Ice Hot
by NessieGG
Summary: Relena is elected President of the ESUN, a position she never wanted. She and Heero have an unplanned night together and are seperated, only to be reunited six years later when a crisis begins. (Complete)
1. Two Spaces Forward

This is for the "Church of Lemons" contest/challenge. I hope you enjoy it!  
  
Warnings: Language! LIME! I will post a link to the lemons (three) contained in this fic on my bio eventually, so if you wish to read those, look for them there.  
  
Disclaimer: I tried to think up something original for this and failed. Don't own Gundam Wing.  
  
~ Ice Hot ~ Chapter One  
  
By Gundam Girl  
  
'Two Spaces Forward'  
  
Relena sat with perfect posture; back upright, legs together, head erect, hands folded upon the surface of the table in front of her. The designer Von Deau had constructed a business skirt and jacket just for her for this night. Specially hired hairdressers and makeup artists had perfected her features.  
  
She was far from ready.  
  
The pulse at her throat ticked in time with the thousand-dollar gold watch gracing her wrist, pounding against an age-old string of emeralds. She thanked God she wasn't sweating. Even he seemed nervous; he was tapping his finger against his gun holster.  
  
"Citizens of the Earth Sphere Unified Nation," the speaker began, "the assembly of the Council has gathered here tonight to inform you of the replacement for President Gavril upon his untimely death by heart attack. The Council voted between Foreign Minister Peter Martinez, as you know, and Vice Foreign Minister Relena Darlian."  
  
The speaker paused; Relena felt her skin crawl. Why would he dare halt his speech?!  
  
"I will now inform you of the voting's result. From this day, the ESUN will be governed by Madam President Relena Darlian."  
  
Even from the top floor of the ESUN's presidential palace in Brussels, Relena could hear the cheering. A quick glance to the window showed people lined in the streets outside, calling her name, praising her. Relena's gaze flitted to the camera that was suddenly before her and she smiled at the world.  
  
The world that was now relying on her for organization and guidance.  
  
Taking a deep breath, Relena accepted the microphone the speaker proffered to her, and dove into her speech.  
  
"Thank you, Speaker Valum. It is my greatest honor to take the place of President Gavril, however, I can only say that I wish it were under different circumstances. I thank the Council for trusting me with this responsibility, and I want to thank you, Minister Martinez."  
  
Martinez smiled, and he looked relieved. He was to take office originally, but undisclosed members of the Council had proposed a vote. Relena fought to keep from gritting her teeth.  
  
Neither of them had truly wanted this position. But with Gavril's death, there was nothing either of them could possibly do. The ESUN needed order, they needed a leader.  
  
And everyone had known from the day Gavril had died who that leader would be. Queen Relena of Romefeller, Princess Relena of the Sank Kingdom, Vice Foreign Minister Darlian of the Earth Sphere Unified Nation would take control of the Earth and its Colonies.  
  
And there was no objection to any of it.  
  
Relena quickly finished her speech to the sound of louder cheering, more enthusiastic encouragement. They wanted her love, her spirit, her life.  
  
And she would have to give it to them, she thought as she was escorted from the building into a limousine that would take her to an airport. She very badly wanted to go home; she needed time to prepare for the imprisonment she would succumb to for at least the next eight years of her life.  
  
When did she become so tired, she wondered almost desperately. When had she become so involved that she couldn't just say "no"?  
  
Gavril's funeral had been yesterday. She hadn't yet cried. She could still remember the day the man had come to her, thanking her for the peace she had so determinedly striven for. He had asked her to take her adoptive father's place as VFM. . .  
  
And he had died, leaving her with the most power; leaving her with a position she had never intended to take, whether by surprise or election.  
  
Relena slid into the back seat of the limousine and rested her head against the seat, closing her eyes. She felt the presence next to her study her image carefully as the driver pulled the car forward.  
  
"Congratulations."  
  
She kept her eyes closed. The voice, deep and toneless, sent her pulse thumping again. "If you actually mean that, then thank you."  
  
She felt him withdraw, and Relena felt a twinge of guilt. She opened her eyes and turned to him. "Thank you, Heero. Sincerely."  
  
He was silent, staring straight ahead of him at the back of the passenger seat. He was godly at twenty years old, strong and lean. And protective. Career-wise.  
  
It was five-thirty when Relena finally got to her home in the morning. The plane ride had been long, and she had started on first-term paperwork, officially missing any sleep she really needed. Eight cups of coffee and headphones blaring very noisy music had kept her awake. Heero had done work of his own, typing up security reports that were due to Une that very day.  
  
She sighed as she walked into the mansion, Heero ahead of her to scan the perimeter. She technically had a personal day tomorrow – today – but she wasn't one to put off work that could get done at present rather than future.  
  
She went into a half-doze, and when Relena was fully conscious again, Heero had escorted her up to her quarters. He gave her a look that ordered her to stay in the hall until he had secured her personal suite in the Peacecraft mansion, not bothering to turn on the light. Relena waited a long time; exactly five seconds.  
  
"I'm too tired for this," she protested in a half-grunt and dragged herself into the suit, quickly discarding an evil pair of high heels and half- limped into her bedroom.  
  
Her looked up from inspected her bedroom window and gave a disapproving glare. "I hadn't finished," he said lowly.  
  
Relena spared him a sideways glance and shrugged, reaching behind her neck to work at the clasp of emeralds. "You went too slow."  
  
"Relena—"  
  
"Heero, I need to rest. I've been running around the globe for the past fifty-three hours." She began to yank at the pins that had held up her hair all night. "No one's going to try to assassinate *Madam President* yet."  
  
He didn't miss the negativity in her new title. She shrugged out of her dark blue business jacket. "Do you want me to leave now?" he asked, deliberately looking at the windowsill.  
  
"Better finish the inspection," she said absently, shimmying out of her skirt and working at the buttons on her dress shirt, revealing a skin-toned slip that was strapless around her chest and ended at mid-thigh. "I don't want bugs in my room."  
  
He had never seen her so...vunerable. Physically or emotionally. She looked positively drained while she sat on her blue satin-covered bed and slipped off her thigh-highs. Damn it, she wore thigh-highs...  
  
"Do you often sleep like that?" Heero found himself asking, no emotion detectable in his voice.  
  
Relena looked at him with annoyance flaring in her eyes. "That's hardly your business."  
  
"If Preventers happened to miss a bug," he started.  
  
"I pay Preventers to not 'happen' to miss a bug," she interrupted with a tone that was not quite icy. She was too heartsick to be icy. "They are to protect me, the Vice Foreign—the President," she amended bitterly. "The goddamned President of the ESUN."  
  
Heero scrutinized her, leaning against the wall, watching her pull down her own bed covers. The maids had neglected to do so before her arrival. "You didn't want the position," he stated flatly.  
  
"No, I didn't want the position! Nobody wanted the position! But they wanted me to have it, because I am their prize, their gem." Relena shot him a glare that would scathe stone. "Hell, Heero, I was a fucking teen idol! Girls wore my hairstyle!"  
  
"You are the best person for the job," he told her firmly, folding his arms and continuing with his unblinking stare. "Whether you think so or not."  
  
"Oh no, I know I'm the best person for the job." Her voice had suddenly taken on a softer, practically yielding tone. "I just wish I wasn't. Presidency is hell. Look what happened to Gavril, God bless him."  
  
Heero waited a split-second to look at her for just another moment. Then he checked his watch. "I'll be in the hall."  
  
"No, wait. Dammit." Relena ran a hand through her hair. "I'm sorry; I'm being a pain, and I didn't mean to whine. You've gotta be as tired as me."  
  
Tired. He was tired all right. Tired of the awful guessing games they'd been playing since they were sixteen and he'd gotten himself assigned to her guard detail. They'd both matured, physically well, but emotionally...not so successfully. They both had very work-oriented lives. He had his job; she had hers.  
  
It was the in-between that drove them both mad. Because the in-between often involved each other.  
  
"I'm fine," Heero responded tersely. "I'm your bodyguard."  
  
"I don't have a room ready for you. I'd call Pagan, but I really don't want to wake him. If you give me a minute, I'm sure there's an extra blanket here, you can take the couch..." Relena stopped halfway out of bed. Heero tried to ignore that the slip had ridden all the way up her legs, and the edge of white lace panties was visible in the moonlight filtering through the window he had been observing.  
  
"Hold on. Heero," she sighed. "I'm sorry. This isn't at all proprietary, I know, but I am really dead on my feet. Can you just take my bed with me tonight, for my sake as hostess?"  
  
He blinked, the only outward sign of surprise. Dear God, she hadn't really asked him that. Had she? Jesus...  
  
"Just for tonight. I know it's awkward and really rather dumb, but... I don't know, I feel bad about leaving you in the hall, and I just don't have the energy to fix something up for you. And," she added anxiously, "you need sleep just as much as I do."  
  
He could have said no. He could quite easily have told her again that he was fine, that he did not need sleep. Machines, after all, did not need sleep.  
  
But he had come to realize in the past four years that he was really not a machine. Whether she knew it or not, Relena had been forcing him to understand that bit by bit. The way she lived, the way she did what needed to be done wasn't altogether unlike him. It was who she did it for – the people, not the mission.  
  
He dropped his pants.  
  
Relena met his eyes gaze for gaze, not once blushing as he let his uniform jacket fall to the floor. He stripped from his shirt, and she didn't move until he was clad only in his boxers and a pair of plain white socks, and she scooted over to make room for him.  
  
The first thing he noticed between the sheets of her bed was the body heat. In the short time she had been under the blankets, she had managed to warm the whole mattress. Then he smelled her perfume, the shampoo in her hair, the champagne on her tongue.  
  
He closed his eyes. He was just sleeping; half-sleeping. He was still on duty.  
  
He knelt satin brush his knee; her slip. His eyes popped open. Relena hadn't seemed to notice. She was lying very still, her back toward him, probably asleep already. Her hair flowed over her pillow and reached his, nearly touching his face. One of her arms was on top of the bedspread, lying across her hip. Her skin glowed purely white.  
  
"I'm scared, Heero."  
  
Heero's only reaction to her abrupt speaking was to wait a moment before breathing again.  
  
"I'm so worried that I won't do this right. The whole world's trusting me to, and I..."  
  
She had trailed. Heero felt something like sympathy rise in his chest. It made him open his mouth and talk: "That's understandable."  
  
Relena was shaking her head, and when she flipped on her side to see him, a few strands of blond hair fell close to her eye. "Maybe – to some – but it isn't acceptable. I need to be proud, composed, and powerful-looking yet graceful." She sighed and sat up. "I can't do this."  
  
Heero's eye fell on the slip strap that had gone askew and clung to her outer shoulder. "I think you're being hard on yourself," he said quietly, sitting up as well. "You'll get used to it."  
  
Relena met his eyes again and tried to ignore that he was practically naked beside her. It was Heero Yuy. Untouchable, unobtainable. He responded to no one. "You don't understand. After this year, I meant to resign from the ESUN. I didn't even want to be Foreign Minister. I was hoping I could just live as another former politician who got coverage every so often but is basically forgotten."  
  
"The public can't forget you," Heero told her logically. "They're drawn to you and they can't help it. They would do anything for you, even if they don't know why."  
  
Relena studied him carefully. Her voice softened to a whisper. "They should try to learn. Or maybe they shouldn't be drawn to me at all."  
  
"You could push them away," Heero said, turning his whole body toward her. The silence of the silver-tinged world surrounded them as Heero realized that he had covered her hand with his. "You could say no."  
  
Relena's breath shuddered out as the space between them closed. She didn't know if that was her doing or his. "But I don't want to."  
  
The conversation had obviously gone beyond the public. They both knew it. They shared the same expression; carnal, wanton.  
  
And she was suddenly in his arms, like lightning. The lightning had ignited a fire that quickly blazed, and he kissed her so hard that Relena wondered if her lips would be bruised. His touch went over her shoulders, her back and hair. Safe areas. Even at a time like this, Heero used precautions.  
  
Her fingers brushed the back of his neck and he went dead still, jerking his head back though he didn't relinquish his hold on her.  
  
"I don't know what I want from tonight," he breathed huskily, desire barely in check. Relena could feel him against her thigh. She shook her head.  
  
"I do," she whispered, and her lips went to his neck first, savoring his throat and the underside of his chin. Relena could feel his fingers dig into her hips. Rising to her knees, she found his mouth and took it with force.  
  
*************************************************************  
  
First chapter out! Here's a secret; this fic is completed entirely (with the exception of a possible epilogue). You have to review to get the next chapters! 


	2. Captured Knight

Thanks, all who reviewed. Enjoy this chap.  
  
~ Ice Hot ~ Chapter Two  
  
By Gundam Girl  
  
~ Captured Knight ~  
  
Heero had fallen asleep, Relena realized with astonishment only three minutes after the boiling, raging sex was over – for him. They'd both been virgins only a half-hour ago, she realized.  
  
They *had* been fast. Perhaps too fast.  
  
She wasn't a fool. Relena had learned years and years ago that a woman's first time would not always be fulfilling. She had learned that it would hurt – and hurt it had, Jesus Christ! *She* had learned.  
  
Had he?  
  
He hadn't seemed to take note of the fact that she'd been in pain, nor that she wasn't feeling any of the pleasure he had quite obviously gotten in that last outcry of her name.  
  
Her excitement, though it had surged when he did find release, had quite bluntly died. No pleasure, no more pain. Nothing. Nothing at all.  
  
Relena managed to pull away from Heero, sliding to the very edge of the bed and curling up into a fetal position, her back toward him once again. From her vantage point, she could see her slip puddled on the floor in a mass of now-ripped satin. His boxer shorts were lost something in the sheets they had kicked to the foot of the bed. She reached for them now, covering herself with them.  
  
But Relena couldn't quite keep out the chill.  
  
***  
  
She woke up the next morning to sunlight. A dull ache was between her legs. Lifting a very groggy head, she saw her clock – and realized it was no longer morning at all.  
  
After the initial panic had subsided, she was glad that she'd been given the day off with her new presidency.  
  
The day that she had started with Heero...in bed...with her.  
  
Heero!  
  
Relena shot upright and twisted to look at the spot next to her. The place was bare and cool. Her gaze darted around the room as she shot up and moved through her suite. Everything was exactly the same as it had been the night before. Her heeled shoes were still awkwardly landed in the sitting room. Her purse was still hung on the chair by the door. The lights were still off.  
  
Everything of Heero Yuy's, both man and his clothes, was gone and had been gone for a while. But she was naked and shivering. Her arms wrapped around herself in a desperate quest for any warmth that might be left over.  
  
But it was as though he had never been there.  
  
***  
  
Trowa Barton was shocked when President Relena Darlian burst out of her chamber, dressed in jeans and a plain purple T-shirt. White slippers covered her feet. She wore no makeup. Her hair was not brushed.  
  
This was not the professional politician Trowa was on duty to guard.  
  
"Where is he?!" was the first thing out of her mouth. Her voice was hoarse and she obviously hadn't spoken yet today. "He was still here at six- thirty this morning, where the hell *is* he?"  
  
Trowa only regarded her with a lifted eyebrow. The one visible green eye inspected her pathetic-looking image. "Preventer Yuy got off at seven, Madam President," he said curtly. "I came at eight."  
  
"And he ran between those times." Her voice was ice cold, and her face was pale. He watched as she fisted her tangled hair between her fingers. "He ran. He fucking ran."  
  
Trowa showed no reaction to her cursing. He'd had little doubt it had been in there somewhere. "You have nothing scheduled for today," he began. It was business as usual. "Pagan asked to let him know if you were hungry when you—"  
  
"I need to see Une," she cut in, all at once furious. "I need to know where he is."  
  
Trowa looked at his watch. "I can have a car prepared in five minutes."  
  
"Make it two," she commanded harshly. "When I get my hands on him..."  
  
Barton stared at the door she banged shut in his face for a moment. She would probably take the time to brush her teeth and comb her hair – hopefully -- but then she would expect her car to be ready. He turned.  
  
It wasn't really any of his business what Heero and Relena had done together last night. His business was the protection of the woman who was now the ruler of the ESUN.  
  
But damn, he thought as he radioed the men stationed at the garage. Heero had just screwed himself over.  
  
***  
  
Une's office door slammed against the wall. A whirlwind of frustration darted through it before it swung closed again.  
  
"Tell me where he went."  
  
Lady Une of Preventers looked up and gave Relena a calm smile. "Madam President, good morning. How may I help you?"  
  
Relena made a fist and pounded it impatiently on the surface of Une's desk. "I need you to tell me exactly where he is." Despite her desperation for strength, she felt she would cry.  
  
"He?" Une asked softly as she reached for a mug of coffee that an office aid had brought her minutes earlier.  
  
"He," Relena bit out, ferocity accentuating her voice. "Heero Yuy. Your lead man. My night guard."  
  
"His shift was over at seven this morning, as I assumed you knew."  
  
Relena took a very deep breath. She did not need to start off her renewed career by shouting at the head of Preventers. "He left, Une."  
  
Une's interest did peak now. "Before had had clearance to?"  
  
"No. I don't know. Damn it, I doubt it, but when I woke up this morning, Heero wasn't at my house." Relena slowly began to realize how ridiculous and horribly unprofessional she sounded. And how scandalous her story was beginning to seem.  
  
"Madam President, has Preventer Yuy ever been at your residence upon your waking?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then I don't really understand what the problem is." Une tapped a finger against her cheek. "Did you expect him there?"  
  
"I—" She bit her lip. Had she? "I don't know what I expected."  
  
"That answer is very vague. My agency is concerned with your physical self, Miss Relena. Your mental self is the concern of you and whatever professional you feel is necessary."  
  
Lady Une thought she was mad. "There's got to be something you're not telling me. When did Heero Yuy last report in?"  
  
"Five minutes ago, Madam."  
  
"Excuse me?" She blinked.  
  
Une nodded and stood up to face the window behind her. "Much to the misfortune of us both, Relena, my best Preventer just turned in his resignation via e-mail. The details of why he did so were not included; that is private information we do not require of our resigning agents." She turned back to the president with a strange look of sympathy in her brown eyes. "If you wish, I can do a search for him. But as I'm sure you're aware..."  
  
Relena closed her eyes and knew exactly what Une was going to say.  
  
"If Heero Yuy does not want to be found, than we have very little chance of discovering his location."  
  
She held back a sigh and stood up straight, fists at her side. "No search is necessary," she said tightly. "You're right; we wouldn't find him."  
  
Une sat down again. "Mr. Maxwell will take over his position. My apologies. You chose a bad time, Madam President. Also, I would like to congratulate you on your position. Forgive me, but I hope you're ready for it."  
  
Relena's face widened with a smile that was as hard and smooth and fake as faux pearls. She no longer felt the need to cry. She no longer felt anything. "Trust me, Lady Une. I am quite ready for it."  
  
The night before with Heero Yuy had been sex. Not the fairytale lovemaking silly women read about in romance novels. There was no magic, no glow, and no sparkles. There was sweat and pain and the smallest bit of blood that she had found on her sheets after her brief talk with Trowa.  
  
There were mechanics, not roses.  
  
Sex was sex. Love was love. The two didn't meet.  
  
And neither did ex-Preventer Heero Yuy or Madam President Relena Darlian meet.  
  
Not for another six years...  
  
****************************************************************  
  
Please review! Or no next chapter! 


	3. Six Spaces Behind

Thanks for reviewing! Please continue to do so!  
  
To SweetCherries – Thanks for reading this fic, but just so you know, I update my stories in a pattern. "Now That You've Returned" is a little down the line. Sorry.  
  
Disclaimer: Me no own.  
  
~ Ice Hot ~ Chapter Three  
  
'Six Paces Behind'  
  
By Gundam Girl  
  
In the year A.C. 206, L1 Colony 8794 was in shambles. The weather program on the Colony had been malfunctioning for over four years, and the temperature was always unpredictable no matter the season on Earth. Sometimes it went from a blazing heat wave to snowstorms in June. And for the last three weeks, the timer for the artificial sun had been off, making it light at midnight and pitch black at noon.  
  
The citizens of 8794 and of other Colonies in similar conditions were fed up. Quatre Raberba Winner, now the Colonial Chief Representative, was fed up.  
  
Heero Yuy was fed up. And when he finished writing his signature in black ink on the document on Quatre's desk, his expression was grim.  
  
"Listen," Quatre said quickly to his old war comrade, "are you positive? You don't have to do this. There are others, Heero, who are willing and quite capable."  
  
Heero squared his shoulders. Time had done nothing but improved his image. His hair, still obnoxiously unruly, was thicker. He had an even better build, a better face, and, most importantly, a better attitude and outlook on life.  
  
That is, on a day that wasn't going as poorly as this one was.  
  
"I want to do this, Quatre," Heero answered finally, and didn't respond when the politician sighed wearily. "We both fought for the Colonies, and we both want to see them in good shape. You're working hard, and so will I."  
  
"That's devotion I wish there was more of," Quatre replied, standing and taking the contract from him. "I guess I should say thank you."  
  
"You should, but I must," Heero corrected, extending his hand for Quatre's. The blond man smiled; he'd have never made the first move for a handshake five years earlier. "You've been doing more work the past eleven years then I'll be doing as L1's representative."  
  
"I wouldn't say that." Quatre shrugged. "I'm not the one who blew Libra to pieces." He looked up in time to see Heero's small smirk. "This is only temporary, you realize. I can't make anything official without an election. L1 Representative Fogner was kind enough to withdraw for the next few months; he likes Gundam pilots. Says we saved the world, and all that."  
  
Heero shook his head. "Thank him, too, for me."  
  
"Sure. Shall I send a cup of complimentary L4 coffee with you?" Winner joked.  
  
01 lifted his hands and began to walk backwards out of Quatre's high-class office at the top of an L4 skyscraper. L4 0001, of course, worked splendidly, as it was the Chief Representative's home Colony. Heero knew, however, that some of the technicians here were older, and many of them still had a grudge against Quatre's father; it explained why this particular Colony had such scorching summers.  
  
"I'll pass," Heero told him with the hint of a smile. "I have a shuttle booked to Earth."  
  
"Earth?"  
  
"The Sank Kingdom." His smile fell, and Heero stuck his hands in his pockets. He suddenly looked decidedly uncomfortable. "I have a meeting scheduled in New Port City."  
  
"I see," Quatre said quietly. "And you're...okay with that? Heero?"  
  
Yuy halted with his hand on the doorknob. "It's a matter of whether I can deal with it or not."  
  
"And can you?" queried the blond man skeptically. "Remember Heero, I've seen her. And you. There's been changes. Six years does that to people."  
  
"Obviously," Heero muttered irritably.  
  
"I mean it. She stopped writing a month after... Well, a month after." Quatre sighed again and ran his hand through his hair in a show of worry that was very unprofessional. He held the burden of being the only one both Heero and Relena had told about the last time they had been together, though they'd both been quite vague on the details. "Hurry then. Let me know how things go."  
  
When the door shut behind the new representative, Quatre sank into his plush leather chair.  
  
Allah help those who needed it; namely the two about to cross horns.  
  
***  
  
Jestina nearly tripped in her high-heels. For the second time that day, a thick stack of manila envelopes almost slipped from her grasp as she chased her boss around. "Miss Relena! Miss Relena, could you please hold on a minute?"  
  
Relena paused in the doorway of her New Port City office and turned back to look at her secretary of half a year. A raised eyebrow demonstrated waning patience and an in-progress headache that had started during the meeting she'd just gotten out of.  
  
"Your documents from the Nova Scotia territory, ma'am. They would like them hopefully signed and returned by the end of next week. Halifax is expecting them." Jestina held her breath. President Relena Darlian had been irritated all morning.  
  
"Put them on my desk, please," Relena instructed her tightly. On the desk with all the rest of my work, she thought in annoyance. She was missing her lunch break as it was. "Thank you, Jestina."  
  
"Ma'am," Jestina murmured as she hurriedly left the President's office. She never liked staying in there for more than a few moments; Relena's seemingly never-ending foul mood radiated from it.  
  
Relena pressed her fingers to the bridge of her nose. Another lunch break would be skipped today. She smirked a bit. And Zechs would be on the phone tonight, asking if her diet had improved. Noin would be hovering from somewhere behind him, worry all over her face.  
  
She would just have to disappoint them with a hard "no." At least she was honest.  
  
She reluctantly lowered herself into her desk chair. The chair was wood and high-backed. She'd started out with a comfortable leather one, but that had driven her from the correct work ethic, and she'd had it replaced with a stricter seat. It kept her from leaning back and relaxing.  
  
It also formed a rather stubborn knot in her lower back.  
  
Relena straightened her shoulders and ignored the pain. She could always take something for it later after she got done with the daily dose of at- times overwhelming paperwork. She shot a glance at her day planner, which was lying open on the edge of her desk. She blinked upon realizing that she was supposed to have been meeting with the representative of the L1 Colony sector five minutes ago.  
  
Splendid. Representative Fogner, a man usually very concerned about his own punctuality, was running late. She frowned.  
  
What a wonderful Tuesday.  
  
"Madam President?" Jestina's voice, still timid after half a year of service, came over the desk com. "The representative for L1 is here."  
  
And only ten minutes behind schedule, she thought in displeasure. At least she could get this meeting through with.  
  
"Send him in, Jestina."  
  
"Right away, Madam."  
  
Relena took the few moments she still had to herself to straighten the stack of paperwork and push it off to the side. She closed her planner and tucked it away in a drawer from which she pulled a few lined sheets of paper. She placed them in front of her beside a sharpened pencil.  
  
She was prepared, she thought confidently. She could only hope that Fogner was as well.  
  
The door opened, and Relena raised her chin, ready to face the tardy representative.  
  
The representative, she realized, her whole body frozen with surprise in the regal position, was not Fogner. Fogner was a short, skinny, pale man with a smatter of thin reddish-gray hair and two failed marriages. This man was...  
  
Well, to be blunt, he was Heero Yuy.  
  
Relena gripped the pencil in her hand so hard that the wood cracked. If Heero noticed, he didn't show it. His usual frown was in place, but he still seemed quite different. Relena wasn't sure how. He wore no business suit, only a pair of black slacks and a forest green dress shirt. It was as though he was mocking his own war attire. She might have been a tad bit amused if she wasn't busy involuntarily gawking at the better-developed muscles that were noticeable through the sleeves of his shirt.  
  
Yuy, however, seemed to see her as a battle opponent. As she sized him up, he sized up her. Although Heero seemed a bit more outwardly impressed with her physical appearance. She wore a royal purple business jacket over a white blouse and a knee-length skirt that matched the jacket. A black belt was barely visible to his eyes. Her face was a bit pale, but he had somewhat expected the reaction. Her eyes with their hints of gold and violet, brought out by the suit, were still the color of the ocean at daybreak. She apparently hadn't been fully developed at twenty, as her curves were more distinct and her chest was fuller. The lines of her face were sharper. And, Heero realized with the smallest frown, she'd lost weight. Quite the bit of it.  
  
He shifted his posture and leaned against the door he had shut behind him, his brows knitted together. Uncomfortably, he was fairly certain he knew exactly why she had lost weight.  
  
Relena's voice suddenly unfroze from her throat, and political instinct engulfed her speech. "What the hell are you doing here?"  
  
Heero's brows arched now. He hadn't expected a warm greeting, but the ice in her tone still came as a surprise. He pushed away from the door and took a step forward. "Didn't your advisors tell you to be courteous to those in your political chain?"  
  
Her face went a shade paler, and Heero felt concern swell in him. He'd gotten used to that particular emotion. The other one that came rushing was still new. Hurt. The way she looked at him as though he was some despicable...killer...hurt him more than he cared to admit to himself.  
  
Relena's breath puffed out in something akin to a scoff. "Excuse me. Last time I was notified, the representative of L1 was Matthias Fogner. You are clearly not he."  
  
"Thankfully, I assure you," he countered with a flash of challenge in his eyes. She returned the look. Neither of them was smiling. "But I am here in his place."  
  
"With his consent, I would assume," she hissed. A muscle twitched in her jaw when he pulled a contract copy from his pocket and showed it to her.  
  
"His and Quatre's." Heero noted the elegant way her hair hung thickly and gorgeously around her shoulders. He tensed as he suddenly remembered the way it had felt between his fingers and beneath his lips. He pushed the thought away. "And so I'm here to discuss the sector that is currently mine with you. Several of the Colonies, included in more sectors than L1, are in dire need of repair."  
  
She was glaring at him. No doubt she believed he was the least-qualified person for the task of representing a group of squirrels, let alone L1. But, Relena had to admit, he had been brought up on various L1 Colonies, if you could call training for mass murder an upbringing. Duo had told her once that all the Gundam pilots had been taught much about the Colonies' mechanics, and if that was true, then Heero had been taught twice as much. So to an extent, he had a bit of potential.  
  
However, she would never give him any sort of satisfaction as her faith. She had once bestowed it upon him, and he'd torn it to shreds.  
  
She suddenly had a flash of that night, when he had so unashamedly stripped in the moonlight.  
  
"So I've heard," she bit out, remaining as calm as possible. "I know that Fogner filled several applications for the Council's attention to be called to a matter concerning repairs, and I know for a fact that the weather programming of some of the older Colonies are being looked into."  
  
Heero scowled. Her voice was cool and crisper than an autumn day in American Kentucky. She was being deliberately professional. So would he. "It goes beyond 'some' of the older Colonies, and it certainly goes beyond the weather programming. When was the last time you were in L5? The housing there is ungodly. You have a bunch of Asian families that were exiled a few hundred years ago, and over half of them are living on the streets. Wufei mentioned that he's seen more children die of starvation in the past two years than he did when he was growing up."  
  
"I'll say it again," she said slowly, as though he were a child that didn't understand her, "it's being looked into."  
  
Heero stood very straight, and Relena was very suddenly, very painfully reminded of how his body had felt pressed flush against hers. He stepped right up to her desk and returned her glare full force. His hands flexed as though he wanted to curl his fingers around her throat. He probably did. When he spoke, there was a deadliness – and just the barest of threats – to his tone.  
  
"You don't sit in that chair to look at things. You sit there to fix them and make them better. As far as I know, you're doing absolutely nothing." Temper, and a little bit of desire now that he was close enough to smell her perfume, heated his flesh. A light brush of red came to his face. He'd never claimed to be an exceptionally patient man.  
  
Relena's fist tightened around her pencil. "You've absolutely no right to judge me, Yuy."  
  
He was taken aback for a moment that she would address him by his last name.  
  
"What I've been doing for the last six years, is keeping civil wars from breaking out. You have skills for getting inside information, so I'm sure you're aware of the various plans for uprisings; politicians threatened, rumors of weapon manufacturing..." She leaned back in her chair as best she could and folded her hands in her lap. "That you dare to insinuate that I have done nothing proves your boldness, Mr. Yuy, and your stupidity."  
  
She was right of course, he thought with a bit of vehemence. She was always fucking right. Heero met her eyes with warning. "I'm helping people, Madam President," he told her snidely. "I want to make sure that you intend to do the same."  
  
She stood up and met him face-to-face and glare for glare. She was startled to see his eyes glaze just a little as they scanned her entire form so quickly that she was almost driven to question if he had examined her figure or not.  
  
The way he seemed to loom over her was becoming unnerving. "To the best of my ability, Representative."  
  
He nodded once, a curt movement that left no room for her thinking he missed the venom in her voice. "I suppose that's all I can ask of you." Or for thinking that he would be willing to lock that door behind him and drag her to the floor.  
  
"It's all I can offer at the moment," she replied smoothly, her voice not unlike a downpour of hail.  
  
He turned on his heel, and Relena lowered her gaze to the surface of the desk.  
  
"Relena."  
  
Her head shot up, blood rising obnoxiously to her face. Damn it, why would it affect her so greatly that he might say her first name?  
  
His expression was oddly...readable. He looked anxious, which threw her off- kilter. Since when did anxiety touch Heero Yuy? He also looked angry, probably at her rather cold way of dealing with the discussion of the Colonies, and just a little disappointed. Had he been having fairytale dreams, she wondered, of their reunion? A temperamental flame rose to her stomach. He deserved to be disappointed.  
  
And, she realized with no little amount of chilling dread, he looked nearly wanton.  
  
"How are you doing, anyway?" he asked lightly, a touch of genuine curiosity in his voice.  
  
Relena swallowed. If he were attempting to start a conversation, she would toss him to the ground. She'd had a lot of practice with self-absorbed ladder-climbers groping for the highest rung. "I fail to see how the topic of my well-being is in any way relevant to our business meeting."  
  
"I used to guard you," he said with a casual shrug; or what would have been a casual shrug if Yuy had the ability to look casual. As it was, someone so...clench-able...would never look completely laid-back. "And it's been six years. I can't help wondering what happened to you. You used to be so cheerful."  
  
She wouldn't have been totally surprised if he'd gotten himself so drunk the day after she'd seen him last that he didn't even remember the night they'd spent together. At the moment, his comment about her previous attitude evoked a rather harsh reply. "I met with reality," she told him sharply. "And your time here is up. Leave."  
  
Heero didn't have time to be surprised by her rudeness when her secretary, the woman named Jestina, poked her head into the office. "Madam President," she murmured in an almost mouse-like way, "I'm taking my lunch break. Would you like me to bring you anything?"  
  
Relena ripped her gaze from Heero to look at Jestina. "No, thank you," she said without any honest gratitude at all. "Be sure to turn on the answering machine while you're out, and inform me when you return. Also, Jestina, please escort Representative Yuy," she spat his name as though it was salt, "out of the building."  
  
"Yes, ma'am." Jestina nodded hurriedly and motioned to the dark-toned, handsome man by the door. "This way, sir."  
  
"Thank you," Heero said, much more sincerely than Relena. "Good day, Madam President Darlian."  
  
"Good day, Mr. Yuy," she ground out tersely. When the door had shut and both her secretary and the new representative were gone, she sighed deeply and practically fell back down in her chair. She realized in frustration that her knees were shaking and that her throat was suddenly dry.  
  
She closed her eyes for a moment, but reopened them almost instantly. She had seen an image of them together in her bed six years ago.  
  
Relena balled her fists and took a few long, barely-calming breaths. The pencil was still in her hand, and she snapped it in two pieces. She remembered just how much she had not wanted this job. She'd been nothing but miserable for the last six years, and now...  
  
Heero Yuy and his newfound arrogance was the last thing she needed.  
  
On the street right outside Relena's center of offices, Heero stopped Jestina and pulled out his wallet. He handed her a twenty-dollar bill.  
  
"Buy her a sandwich," he ordered firmly. "Keep the change, and make sure that she eats it all."  
  
When he walked abruptly away, he left Jestina with a twenty and a shocked expression on her face.  
  
********************************************************************  
  
REVIEW PLEASE! 


	4. Challenging Opponent

Thanks all for the wonderful reviews; keep them coming! Let me know if I can make this story better.  
  
~ Ice Hot ~ Chapter 4  
  
By Gundam Girl  
  
"Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" came the enthusiastic half-greeting from the one who had just burst through Heero's apartment door.  
  
Heero didn't spare a glance over his shoulder, but replied with "Who told you I was home, Maxwell?"  
  
"Don't give me that. I'm here on business. Some average Joe wants a new bumper for his car. I delivered it today. The guy was all up on how the new head honcho lived on this Colony." Duo Maxwell scratched the back of his head at the top of his long braid. He had resigned from Preventers three years ago and was now a full-time parts dealer. "Man, I've never seen a piece of crap like that! This place is bad, Heero, why do you still live here? I mean, you could get a better place, now that you're technically L1's rep and all."  
  
Heero nearly sighed. Some things never changed. Duo's inability to keep his mouth closed for five seconds was a prime example. "I don't mind it here."  
  
"You'd be the one. I mean, yeah, I grew up in a place like this, but really. I don't think I could live there or anywhere like it again. Do you even have hot water?" Duo looked through the doorway of the room Heero was in and saw his friend washing dishes in the kitchen sink. "Seriously, is that cold, or what?"  
  
In answer, Heero cupped a handful of water and flicked it at the 02 pilot.  
  
"Shit!" Duo cursed, jumping as the scalding water splashed all over him. "Yup. Pretty damn hot. Jesus, are you in a bad mood."  
  
"You're observant today," Heero muttered darkly.  
  
"No kidding, which is why I know for a fact you went to Earth today, Mr. L1 rep." Duo pulled out a kitchen chair and straddled it backwards. "Sank Kingdom, in fact. Let me ask you, did President Relena fly into your arms or just kind of jump?"  
  
"Neither."  
  
"Ha! I knew it, she was probably ecstatic, took it to the fl... what?" the American asked in disbelief as Heero's reply hit him. "Neither? What the hell? You're lying."  
  
"She stayed right behind her desk, Maxwell," Heero told him impatiently. "And glared at me like I was the goddamned leader of some terrorist organization."  
  
"You're full of it. You must be. Aren't you?" Duo queried lamely, blinking with obvious surprise. "Well. . . wow. I thought she'd be happy to see you. I mean, she's always been worried about us. . . fighters for peace and all."  
  
Heero wanted badly to tell him that she seemed have stopped caring about any of the Gundam pilots six years ago. Quatre, with whom she had always sought support from since he'd been in the political arena with her, had said that the communication between them had ceased quite a long time ago. Duo would only make a big deal of it. But he did deserve some warning of her new personality. "She's different, Duo. Outrageously different."  
  
"As in how?" Duo asked skeptically. "Physically? I've seen her on the news a bit, when I have time, but she's always behind those podiums, you can't see anything."  
  
"Physically," Heero muttered and did his best to keep his mind off the fullness of Relena's chest, "and her deliverance is less than pleasant."  
  
"Please, you were dillusional. She's been nothing but kind to anybody," Duo scoffed. "Didn't you hear about the orphanage chain she did back in November? A hell of a lot of money went into that."  
  
She'd signed a paper, Yuy thought with narrowed brows. She hadn't spoken a word about the orphanage chain, but had taken all of three seconds to scribble a few cursive letters beside her title. "She's cold as ice," he hissed, drying his hands and throwing the towel into the drainer with temper.  
  
Duo opened his mouth to protest, certain that the Japanese man was wrong. But then he saw the muscle in his temple twitch, and Heero's cloudy, furious eyes.  
  
And the strangest touch of regret in the center of his pupils.  
  
He set his chin on the top of the chair's back. "Really? Whoa... weird," he murmured. "But come on, Heero. It's not like she doesn't care about nothing. Not her. She's the president, for God's sake, I mean... She has a have a heart somewhere down the line."  
  
"Could've fooled me."  
  
"Jeez, man. It's been six years, you should try to cut her some slack. People change, ya can't stop that. I mean, hey. I cut three inches off my 'do last month. Used to never touch a pair of scissors. Quatre has a nice set of guts, Trowa says more words in a day now, and Wufei got a bit of that stick out of his ass." He shrugged and grinned a bit. "And look at you! You've probably changed the most, pal. I've seen you smile, laugh. . .guzzle beer like no tomorrow. And don't think I didn't catch the looks you were tossing at that long-legged blond that was at that bar we went to last year, you remember her?"  
  
"She was pressed up against my side, Duo, mentioning cash. She was looking for more than a couple of drinks." Heero pulled a beer from the fridge now and offered him one. Duo held up his hands.  
  
"No, thanks, buddy. Gave it up for Lent. Anyway." Duo crossed his arms and was frowning again. "Relena an ice princess, huh? Doesn't suit her. Not a bit."  
  
"It looked surprisingly natural," Heero said with the hint of a tone to his voice. He remembered the cool way she'd addressed him by his last name and business title only. "I wouldn't recommend stopping by."  
  
"Nah, wasn't thinking about it. We're not exactly friends, but I do like to keep tabs on her."  
  
Heero raised a brow, and Duo grinned.  
  
"She stepped in front of my gun. To protect you, if my memory is doing its job." He shrugged. "That's why I can't get over her snapping at you, it just seems messed up."  
  
"Let's not turn back the clock," Heero suggested tightly, raising the beer to his lips and gulping. "I'm sure she'd shove me at your gun this time around."  
  
"What a switch." Maxwell shook his head. "Got any idea why she changed? Do you even know if it's just you she wants to take out?"  
  
"More than me," Heero affirmed, chugging the rest of his drink and tossing the bottle in a garbage can nearby. "She was ready to bite off her secretary's head." He didn't bother to mention that she'd cut back on lunches, and probably some other key meals as well.  
  
He sighed. "I've gotta get going. My shuttle home leaves in an hour. Damn, Yuy." Duo stood and pushed the chair back in at the table. He walked out to the door, and Heero followed. "This wouldn't have anything to do with the scary permanent leave you took at Preventers, would it?"  
  
Heero scowled and leaned against the wall, locking his gaze on the hallway beyond Duo instead on the parts dealer himself as he opened the door.  
  
"Not a thing."  
  
Duo shook his head and stepped out. "Later then." He shut the door behind him, and the sound of the latch locking seemed somehow crestfallen.  
  
The truth, Heero thought bitterly as he walked back to the kitchen and violently pulled open the refrigerator door. The contents rattled with the force. The truth was that Relena's sudden personality change most likely had *everything* to do with his departure from Preventers. He'd stopped being her guard; she'd stopped giving a damn.  
  
An image of her in that ridiculously seductive purple suit flashed in his mind, and his body heat sky-rocketed.  
  
He yanked out another beer.  
  
***  
  
Relena slammed the door to her suite closed once she'd made it home for the night. She was absolutely furious. Just thinking about it made her blood boil.  
  
Heero Yuy, of all people, had had the audacity to come into her office, impersonating the L1 Colony Sector Representative! That *poser*, that fraud...that bastard!  
  
Her fist clenched as she recalled the very real contract on her desk that bared Yuy's, Quatre Winner's, and Representative Fogner's signatures.  
  
And her pulse skipped horribly as she remembered the way he had *looked*. He'd stopped growing, most definitely, but he hadn't yet started to go at all downhill. He'd reminded her of some wild mustang, untamed, with barely enough civility to indicate any kind of sensitivity, as though it didn't truly exist. But she had seen it in his eyes.  
  
Just like she'd seen the carnality in his gaze. And that *did* exist. And horrifyingly, she was feeling something not very different.  
  
She moaned and sank into the chair closest to the door. Why would Quatre *do* this? He knew, was the only one who knew... And Quatre, being logical, would not have sent Yuy to Earth, to the Sank Kingdom – to *her* – without a justified and most-likely unavoidable reason.  
  
Relena unzipped her purse and took out the paper on L1 8794, Representative Yuy's current place of residence. The document had said he'd lived there for the past five years, the longest he'd stayed in one place at a time. And Yuy had been correct; the Colony *was* a mess. God-forsaken and falling apart, Relena wasn't sure if the photograph of Fourth Street had been taken at one in the afternoon or one in the morning; the information didn't specify. The artificial sky was purple-pink, the color of dawn or sunset, when it should have been either completely dark or extremely bright.  
  
What confused her, Relena decided as she tossed the papers on the coffee table in front of her, was that she could have found Heero, quite easily, if she had so desired. He was in the back of L1, which was a far cry from being in the back of L6, the place where, had she looked, she would never have been able to locate him.  
  
But she hadn't looked. And Heero, apparently, hadn't bothered to hide himself. What did that mean? Had he been expecting her to go after him? She'd chased him around in A.C. 195, so what difference would 200 make? Relena hadn't really grown up that much after all, so she'd come crawling?  
  
Or was it that if she did come, he'd blow her off without a second thought and that would be that?  
  
Relena reached up and impatiently yanked out the tie holding her hair up in hopes of stalling the pending migraine.  
  
He'd certainly caused a racket for her emotions; or what was left of them. A woman didn't feel too much when a guy practically ruined your first try at sex and then took off without a note to anyone. It was rattling when he returned.  
  
But, she reasoned, he must have talked to Quatre at some point in the last six years. Quatre wouldn't ever have let him on the Colony Representative chain if he'd played civilian for so long. They may have fought a war together, but times were of peace and Winner understood the fine line between the past and the present. Yuy would have had to have done something important to earn a place with L1. It was true that Matthias Fogner worshipped the Gundam pilots like he did God Almighty, as a Christian man, but Quatre had the final say over who represented and who didn't in situations such as reign-handlings when an election could not be arranged. And it was important to Quatre above all else that the Colonies were given the same esteem of political charge as Earth.  
  
The man would have to be suitable.  
  
She herself wasn't sure if Yuy was suitable or not, but Quatre apparently thought so.  
  
She only hoped that the suitableness extended no further than politically.  
  
Relena was lost in these troubling thoughts that more confused her than angered her, so much that she didn't hear the phone crying until its third ring. She leapt from the chair and raced for the receiver, snatching it off the hook and speaking tartly.  
  
"President Relena Darlian."  
  
"Madam President."  
  
She stiffened; it may have been six years, but she knew his voice. Her fury knew it. And what the hell was he doing calling her at seven-thirty? It would have to be midnight there.  
  
"I'm glad I caught you. I understand you've had a busy schedule these days, with these odd threats." He sounded relaxed, strangely. As though all the tension he'd held this afternoon had just slipped grandly away.  
  
Ridiculous. Heero Yuy was never relaxed, and he didn't feel gladness. He didn't feel at all. "Representative," she muttered sharply. "I'm sure you understand that my work hours are over?"  
  
"I have doubt that the president ever stops serving the public. I certainly hope that by now, you're a bit more accepting of my position," Heero said casually. Relena could picture him wrapping the phone cord around his fingers as though he was idly chatting with a new girlfriend, though ludicrous the image was.  
  
She set a hand on the nearby table's top and drummed her fingernails on its surface, most definitely irked. "Acceptance or not, Yuy, you've a contract with signatures that I don't have the luxury of ignoring. Unless you prefer to be humiliated when I call my security and charge you with phone hazing, you had better have a reason for calling me."  
  
Relena knew she sounded childish, and she could practically hear the former Gundam pilot smirking with that unnerving expression of amusement. Her resent for him doubled.  
  
"Yes, Madam President, I *do* have a reason." He was taunting her with the title. "I was sincerely hoping you would come to the Colony I live on tomorrow afternoon, and see for yourself the absolute grunge more than half Colonists live in."  
  
The statement was meant to guilt her, Relena knew, and probably to also goad her on. If telephones also picked up on brainwaves, she was positive that Heero's would be telling her to try another nifty insult.  
  
"There is a procedure, Mr. Yuy, that I would have to follow. As you must know, Lady Une would have to be contacted, and Trowa Barton for that matter. I would need clearance to—"  
  
"Why would Barton come?"  
  
She blinked rapidly a few times. "Excuse me? He is my afternoon security guard, he has been since I took up office." Her fist clenched on the table. "You must know that as well."  
  
"I remember," his voice acknowledged, with possible...jealousy?  
  
She damned herself. No! Heero Yuy would *not* be jealous of her guard! No doubt he had some pretty little thing on L1 that answered to any request or demand he made.  
  
She was not pleased that the thought made her mouth tighten at the corners reflexively.  
  
"So, you will come?" Heero asked a moment later. He'd seemed hesitant in speaking, but then again, so had she.  
  
"I have a meeting," she began.  
  
"Come after."  
  
Argh! She fought the urge to hang up on him so she could have a fit. It wasn't as though he was calling her to *him*, just the Colony on which he lived. The "grunge," as he'd called it.  
  
In irritation, she dug into her purse again and fished out her leather- bound planner. Leafing through it until she found tomorrow's date, she scrutinized the agenda for that day. "It lasts until five, so with good luck, I can book a shuttle for five-thirty," she said icily. "And then I'd prefer to be home by eleven, if you don't mind."  
  
"That's a shame, President Darlian," came the sarcastic reply. "I was hoping you'd considering staying the—"  
  
He cut himself with a silence so thick with tension she could have sliced it with her fingernail.  
  
Relena's blood went cold and completely drained from her face. Yuy had been about to joke in her presence for the first time, and the crack he would have made insinuated that they – they, of all people! – would spend a night together.  
  
"Representative Yuy," she grated.  
  
"Relena," he began, "I think we both know—"  
  
"Mr. Yuy!" Relena interposed, louder and more forcefully than what was professional. "I will assure you, sir, that I will be accompanied by Preventer Barton at all times. Any situation where I would have to release the escort of Preventer Barton is prohibited. Do I make myself clear?"  
  
There was a pause, and for a moment, all she could hear was the pounding her ears. She was half-certain that Yuy could hear it through the phone and would realize her sudden agonizing discomfort. But then she heard him take a breath.  
  
"As you wish, Madam President." His tone was hard and relentless, like a man that had failed his goal in life.  
  
She nodded as though he could see her. "Thank you for your cooperation. My staff will notify you of my exact arrival time tomorrow. The Earth Sphere Unified Nation appreciates you bringing this matter of Colony repair to our attention."  
  
"...Thank you as well." There was something like an annoyed sigh. "Relena, please. Listen, I didn't—"  
  
"Hee— Mr. Yuy," Relena said tightly, catching her mistake and hating herself for the near slipup, "good evening. Until tomorrow."  
  
She hung up with a clatter that she was certain could be heard out in the hall. Just in case, Relena walked to the door and pulled it open.  
  
Wufei Chang and Trowa Barton flanked the door, leaning on the walls on either side of it, pretending well to look bored. Relena was quite certain they'd heard a great deal of the conversation.  
  
"Did you get all that, Barton?" she asked coldly, turning her nose up in the taller man's direction.  
  
Trowa's visible green eye flicked her for a split-second before returning to its original spot, planted straight across from him. "I go where you go," he said dutifully. He pushed away from the wall. "My shift is over, Madam President. I'll see you in the morning."  
  
He strode away with a straight back and a long gait, betraying no hint of curiosity.  
  
Wufei, who had just exchanged guard duty with Barton, was more blunt. His black, left eyebrow was arched in obvious interest.  
  
"So he's representing L1 now."  
  
Relena bent her head, her eyes half-squinted, her fists tight. "Yes."  
  
Wufei shrugged and cast his gaze up at the ceiling as though he wanted to roll his eyes. "That job doesn't suit him too poorly, considering."  
  
Her heard rose to look at his profile. "Considering what, Mr. Chang?"  
  
The Chinese man turned his head just the slightest bit to meet her eyes. It was a temporary competition of frigid black and blue. "Just keep in mind that it has been six years, Darlian. We've all changed, a bit for the better and a bit for the worse. Yuy's changed, too. And I have no doubt that you'll see just how much tomorrow."  
  
Relena met his glare of begrudging respect head on. "Have a good night, Mr. Chang."  
  
Wufei nodded. "I'll be right out here, Madam President." He saluted.  
  
Relena bowed her head and stepped back. Closing the door, she turned and slumped against it with a long, unbecoming sigh. She frankly didn't give a damn if Wufei heard it or not; nor if he thought her weak for emitting such a lowly sound.  
  
She didn't understand Heero Yuy, she thought again. And Relena was just starting to dread the trip to L1 tomorrow.  
  
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REVIEW!  
  
-GG 


	5. Obstacle

Thanks to all who's reviewed. Here's five.  
  
Disclaimer: Don't own GW.  
  
Ice Hot Chapter 5  
  
By Gundam Girl  
  
That dread worked itself into an ice-packed anxiety. The meeting with the Citizens' Council of Europe, of which she had been obligated to attend, had been weary. In a stupor brought on by weariness and a headache, she was only half-certain of what they had been discussing for most of the gathering.  
  
It had either been fishing laws or fishing poles. Either held as much significance to the ESUN in its entirety as a flock of seagulls. And although the protection law on seagulls was important, she thought as she drifted to a sleepy state, leaning on the window, she was nearly positive that the topic of today's meeting was not.  
  
Trowa sat beside on her the shuttle bound for L1. He seemed comfortable enough in his aisle seat, although Relena was suspicious of him uttering a few curses under his breath each time the refreshment cart came by and rammed into his shoulder.  
  
Wufei had said they'd all changed. Apparently Trowa was a little easier to anger these days. Relena shifted her shoulder, trying to find as comfortable a spot as she could in the cabin that was empty but for Trowa, herself, and a gentleman riding coach to L1.  
  
She let go of any thought, too tired to care about it. Too tired to care about anything. She fell asleep.  
  
And was watched.  
  
When she slept, Relena lost the frozen defense she fought to keep up during her every waking moment. Trowa's eyebrows narrowed. He knew what had happened, of course. Yuy's half-assed "apology" note that had been left outside Relena's door for him that morning had left him enraged. He'd left the newly elected president by herself.  
  
His suspicions had only been confirmed when she had burst from her chamber demanding Heero's location. She'd ridden back to the palace with him after her brief and unscheduled meeting with Lady Une.  
  
It had been torture for him after that. Each day, she had become less and less tolerant. A simple reminder of where her car would be parked had set her off cursing her job...and her security guard. She'd stopped smiling. She'd become the very image of the disgruntled politician.  
  
Trowa hadn't realized then how much he had appreciated the quiet thanks she'd give him before when he'd do something as meager as checking in on her at the office.  
  
But the worst part had been listening to her cry in the minutes when the sun came up. He had known that she'd ordered anti-depressants – he'd put the order form in the mail himself. She had also bought books authored by experienced doctors; books about emotional stress, dealing with it, and moving on. He'd nearly considered confronting her about it and trying to help her with his own feelings.  
  
And once...just once...  
  
Trowa shook his head. Four years ago was a long time. Relena was better...  
  
But not much.  
  
And he was worried. There was always a thought in his mind that if he had gone with his feelings and made a move, she'd be happier now. Even in her frosty state...a part of him still loved her. He didn't want her to go on this way. That was part of the horrendous truth.  
  
The other part was that Trowa knew he couldn't put the warmth back into her voice or the kindness into her eyes. It wasn't that he didn't want to try, but he could not do it. She would never open up for him.  
  
A beeping filled the cabin, signaling their landing as the stewardess – who'd hit him with her cart a damned hundred times – requested that seatbelts be fastened. He checked his watch, satisfied that they were on schedule. Leaning over, Trowa set a hand on his boss's shoulder and shook it lightly.  
  
"President Darlian, we've arrived on L1."  
  
When she first emerged from the shuttleport, Relena was still tired – and quite disoriented. They had been set to arrive at L1 8749 at six o' clock, and since it was late spring, it should not have been dark yet.  
  
But it was. Stars shone over hers and Trowa's heads as they walked to the street and hailed a taxi, one that bumped the curve before it braked, startling her and meriting a disapproving glance for the driver.  
  
Trowa suggested the driver be more careful with no little amount of annoyance himself.  
  
"Is this it?" she asked with a dispassionate tone as the cab pulled up to a brick apartment building. Some of the windows were broken, and graced with shaggy curtains or unattractive blinds. The paint job hadn't been touched up for – ever. And the small set of wide, rounded stairs looked on the verge of dissolving under the slightest weight.  
  
And Heero Yuy, when he walked down the steps with a rather confident gait, was no slight weight; not with his muscle.  
  
"Madam President," he greeted. He seemed smooth enough, but there was an underlying tone of nervousness that Relena didn't fail to pick up. He had changed. "How do you like my humble abode?"  
  
Relena swallowed and cast another glance at the darkened streets while Trowa paid the cab fare. She was glad of the diversion; the khaki dress pants, red button-up shirt, and brown leather jacket he wore looked sinfully flattering on his muscled figure.  
  
The Colony itself was in damnable condition. She clamped her teeth shut to keep from chattering in weather that was meant for mid-November, not May.  
  
"It truly does need work, Yuy," Relena told him with a hostile ring in her voice. "I'll be making notes as we go along, so..."  
  
"Yuy."  
  
Heero's gaze left her only because his name was spoken. And when he saw who the speaker was, he sorely missed the sight of Relena's bare legs growing from that sky blue skirt. "Barton. I...appreciate you escorting President Darlian."  
  
It was mostly the truth. She wouldn't have agreed to come here if Trowa was not with her.  
  
"It's my job," Trowa nodded and added: "Perhaps we should go inside before the president catches a cold."  
  
"Understood." Heero turned, and Relena couldn't help but wonder if he realized what word of affirmation he had used. Maybe seeing Trowa, his war comrade, had triggered behavior from six years ago.  
  
He led them out of the night. Relena feared that the condemned-appearing stoop would fall to dust beneath her feet and she hurried after him, Trowa on her tail.  
  
It wasn't much warmer inside, but at least the wind chill had been reduced. The apartment building was drafty, and she fought not to shiver. Yuy and Barton weren't shivering, and she hated feeling weaker, whether they were ex-Gundam pilots or not.  
  
"I'm on an upper floor," Heero said, "and I have heat."  
  
"All right, let's just get there," Relena muttered impatiently.  
  
"Fine. Hold on, this way," he urged when the president and her guard went for a set of doors. "Elevator's been dead for the last year. We're taking the stairs."  
  
Relena wasn't really affected by this news. She only scribbled on a tiny notepad from her purse and followed the representative, knowing Trowa was right behind her.  
  
She didn't know that Heero was five stories up. She was fairly hyperventilating by the time they reached his door, and she had to press a hand to the filthy, dirt-smeared wall for support.  
  
Heero paused when he poked his key in the lock. "Out of shape, Madam President?" He shot her a sideways glance and smirked.  
  
"Open the door, Yuy," Trowa snapped and Relena was grateful. She didn't think she'd had the breath to form a proper retort.  
  
Heero did as instructed and the three of them stepped inside. It was much warmer in his apartment, and, Relena had to admit, Heero was no slob bachelor. There was a couch, an armchair with a crocheted blanket strung over the back, a space where the kitchen was and two rooms that probably led to a bathroom and a bedroom.  
  
The part of the bedroom that she could see through its open door looked small, but that only made it seem cozy. She could too easily see the resident rolling around in there with some slim woman that drooled at his feet.  
  
Awfully, the woman was herself. Relena forced herself to look at Heero instead of his bed, but that only made it worse. He had hips that were much too nice.  
  
"Make yourselves at home," Heero offered in a way that wasn't menacing but not exactly kind. "Do either of you want a drink?"  
  
Trowa folded his arms and leaned against the wall. "I don't drink on the job."  
  
Heero stared pointedly at him. In the past, he might have glared. "You?" he asked Relena. "The water's clean – for now."  
  
She sat down in the armchair and crossed her legs. "Yes."  
  
Heero nodded once and walked into the kitchen. The sound of a running faucet was heard, and Relena took the opportunity to look at Trowa. He was watching her stoically.  
  
"Let me know," he said softly, "when you're ready to go."  
  
She frowned. He didn't seem very comfortable here, either. Why would that be? Sure, Trowa and Heero had never been what one would call friends, but they had never seemed outwardly uneasy with each other.  
  
"Here." Heero returned and Relena thrust the glass at her. In truth, Heero thought agonizingly, he would rather be thrusting something else. In that blue skirt suit, she looked as refreshing as the water was. He could use some refreshment. "Barton, I'd like to show her around the city."  
  
"Show her what you want," Trowa told him. "But I'll be there, Representative."  
  
Not uneasy with each other, Relena thought again. Or competitive. She decided to keep to her peaceful tactics and said, "Actually, I want to ask you a few question, Representative."  
  
Heero tensed. A statement like that could leave a man cold.  
  
Especially if that man had left the asker after a night of sex. Of course she'd have some damn questions.  
  
"Whatever you want to do," he acquiesced intensely and sat on the couch. "Shoot."  
  
Oh, how she would have loved to. Right between his eyes to put the glare back in the man before her. The emotions he was showing – and so casually – put her at a disadvantage. Unused to it, Relena wasn't sure how to go about treating him like a human – instead of a machine.  
  
"First off," she began tersely, flipping to a clean page in her notepad and posing her pen (which held the ESUN insignia) above it. "How long has the weather and the lighting been like this? It's thirty-five degrees outside and pitch black. I should see a setting sun."  
  
And she'd look gorgeous beneath one, Heero thought absently. But back to the current matter. "Too long," he replied. "We would need a completely new system and backup generator. The backup we're running on now is, as you can see, in horrible shape. Soon we'll have no light at all."  
  
"The ESUN will see to its replacement before then. Shelter?" she queried.  
  
"You've seen the worst of it; right here. All the buildings except for maybe the hospital need major renovation. And even the hospital could use better supplies."  
  
"That's very important then." Relena nodded. "Is that it then, Mr. Yuy? I'm sure there are details that you can fax me."  
  
Heero inclined his head. The movement was more to study her expression than to affirm her question. He didn't like the way her smile had been thrown away. "I'll make a list," he promised.  
  
"The ESUN will be keeping an eye on this project." She stood up. She felt it necessary to add, "And I will be keeping an eye on you."  
  
Trowa cleared his throat. "Excuse me," he said and walked away toward the bathroom.  
  
Relena's stomach knotted. She was alone in a room with him. Trowa had deserted her for a call of nature.  
  
Heero stood up as well and held out his hand. She felt an urge to smack it away, but then she realized she was still holding his water glass. Feeling foolish from her previous thought, she handed it to him.  
  
Their fingers brushed each other.  
  
And just like that, an explosion of fire burst up her arm and filled her to her gut. She nearly staggered back, anything to be away from him and his fire, but Relena Peacecraft held her ground and grew colder to fight the heat.  
  
"Thank you for your time," she said crisply, straightening her jacket and buttoning it to her chest. "This experience will surely aid me and my position."  
  
His eyebrows lowered. That was a dangerous sign, if Relena remembered correctly. His glare didn't hold quite so much menace as it had six years ago, but it was enough. Her pulse thumped and her heart crashed in her ribcage. His dark look didn't frighten her.  
  
It excited her. Dreadfully.  
  
And he was suddenly speaking. "Don't you think we should talk?"  
  
The suggestion destroyed the hotness in her. Her face went pale; Heero watched her fist as it clenched. She was fighting to keep control of her emotions, and he knew when people did so. He himself fought a battle still every day.  
  
"You explained to me the current major problems with the Colony and others like this one, didn't you?" She could have been spitting icicles. "If there isn't anything else at the moment, then I will go home now." She turned, wanting to knock for Trowa.  
  
He caught her wrist, grasping flesh below the French cuff on her jacket. "There's more," he said lowly. "Everything more."  
  
Relena debated yanking her wrist away from him. He had a grip like steel, but she was willing to sacrifice a hand if it meant escaping his touch. It was possessive, warm...and completely unwelcome. "Mr. Yuy, I have every intention of keeping our unpleasant encounters very strictly professional. You are clear on that now, so give me my space."  
  
"How would that be fair?" he asked her softly. "Every day for too long you've never—"  
  
"Let go of her, Yuy." Trowa had returned from the bathroom. His green eyes flashed at the Japanese man warningly as he aimed his gun at Heero's heart. "I will shoot."  
  
Heero released Relena's hand. Relena drew it to her chest, wishing her fingers didn't tingle so much.  
  
"Goodnight, Preventer Barton," Heero grated out. If his tone had been loud, he might have sounded savage. As it was, he sounded like a beast caged for months – or years. His eyes never left Relena's. "Madam President."  
  
"Representative Yuy," she said tartly and turned on her heel. Trowa moved to the door and opened it. Relena walked out with swaying hips and a confident, if a little shaken, air. Before Trowa followed, he paused and looked at Yuy.  
  
Correction. He glared at Yuy. So fiercely that the look would have challenged Heero's own past expression.  
  
The door shut behind Barton.  
  
And Heero trembled. His rage was on a very, very short leash. And he still held the glass in his hand. Feeling the urge to break something, he opened the window and threw the innocent cup on the pavement five stories below. Fortunately, the street was empty, assuring him that no passersby had been injured.  
  
Then he stood there at the window, feeling the breeze, so cold, engulf his face and cool his system.  
  
Heero hung his head. Leaning fully on the windowsill, he felt heavier than he ever had in his life. Even the blood of the people he'd killed weren't so staining as the mess he'd made six years ago. And there was no denying what he felt.  
  
He was damned if he didn't want Relena Darlian.  
  
And he was damned because he did.  
  
With a taught jaw, he grabbed a brush and dustpan and headed out to go sweep up the broken glass. If he wanted the Colonies fixed, he couldn't be one of the people ruining them.  
  
"Here. These are the repairing companies I've hired in space before. That one with the check specializes in weather systems, plus several of the supervisors were trained on MO-IV, so..." Quatre paused when Heero didn't take the stapled sheets of paper from his hand. "Are you...oh."  
  
Relena latest press conference was on the TV in the lobby of the L4 service center. Heero's eyes were trained on her form.  
  
Quatre smiled. "She looks very good in burgundy."  
  
Heero stuffed his hands in the pockets of the jeans he wore. "She looks good in anything, unfortunately."  
  
Sandrock's pilot's happy expression faltered. He wondered if Heero also thought that she looked good out of anything too. "You're thinking about it, aren't you?"  
  
He tore his eyes from the TV. "I should be listening to you. Sorry."  
  
Quatre shrugged his shoulders, which had grown broad since he was fifteen. "That depends. I talked to Trowa when he called a day ago. Relena wanted some information on L5's condition, and he mentioned you two had a meeting of sorts last week." He paused. "Did something happen, Heero?"  
  
Heero took the papers from him and fought the urge to crumple them. He'd more or less confided in Quatre for the past years; why not now? "I tried to talk her. About...that night. About the night she won."  
  
The blond man nodded. "I see. I take it that went poorly."  
  
"Poorly," he grunted. "She ran. I didn't really expect her to come right out and respond. She would prefer the cold to the warm, and you'd know that if you saw her these days. Well, it was plenty cold out there. Maybe it was a bit too warm in with me."  
  
Quatre's brows arched. "Really."  
  
"We touched. Just fingertips, but God." Heero exhaled heavily, but didn't quite sigh. "She's never run from me."  
  
"Well..."  
  
"What?" Heero was impatient. He'd been dealing with exploding tension for the past six years. Seeing her again made him just want it all through with, dammit. "Quatre, you're supposed to be the one who gets all of it."  
  
"Don't jump up like that," Quatre told him. "It was probably just a bit too soon. Remember, she hadn't seen you in a long time since the day before. And touching her..." He shrugged again. "I don't pretend to know Relena, Heero, nor you. But look at me and tell me you felt nothing."  
  
Heero did look at him, and saw his clear, sincere blue-green eyes. Sometimes it took a little effort to remember that Quatre had been a Gundam pilot just like him, but now it was incredibly. And the Arabic man had always been more in-tune with feelings than anyone he knew. "I felt," he said. "Christ, I thought someone had taken a torch to me."  
  
"There you go. It's possible Relena felt—"  
  
"An ice floe," he shot out.  
  
"Something similar. No huge puzzle."  
  
"The question is if she did feel anything," Heero stated.  
  
Quatre only smiled. "That I can't say."  
  
Heero nodded and started away.  
  
"Oh, wait!" Quatre called and the L1 rep paused while he went to the service desk and spoke for a minute with the on-duty consultant. "Sorry," he said when he returned and passed Yuy a small folded card. "Invitation to a Colonial dinner on L3."  
  
Heero glanced at him, then at the invitation. "Duet?"  
  
"They have live performances there, and we're scheduled for erotic dancers." Quatre held up his hands when Heero's brows arched. "Hey, I didn't set it up. It's L2's rep, Laura Trieste's, deal. But we're obligated to be there. And as the restaurant's name implies," Winner told him, "you're encouraged to bring a partner."  
  
Heero was surprised at the insinuation, but only for a moment. It wasn't that bad of an idea. Then he smirked. "Are you going to?"  
  
Quatre grinned. He and Heero weren't technically friends, but it seemed they were becoming so. "Just a redhead who's interested in a higher position with the resource satellites, and I don't blame her. She's smart as anything. And," he laughed, "she's damn good looking."  
  
Review please! 


	6. Diminishing Defenses

GG: The response to this fic has been mind-blowing. Thanks for liking it so much, everyone! Keep up with the reviews!  
  
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own Gundam Wing.  
  
Ice Hot Chapter Six  
  
By Gundam Girl  
  
'Diminishing Defenses'  
  
Relena was pleased that she didn't so much as hear Heero Yuy's name for a whole seven days. It would have only annoyed, and worse, upset her. And she had no time to be upset. Between the situation with the Colonies and the steady flow of threats from some unknown terrorists that had yet to act, Relena was swamped with work. The only problem with not being in contact with Yuy was that there was a delay on details she needed to get actual repairs started. The sooner the contractors went to work, the sooner she could hand the matter over to Quatre and let him deal with it.  
  
She returned from a meeting with the ambassadors from the former Africa and retreated to her home office, ready for a "relaxing" night of rock music used to keep her awake and paperwork. The meeting had gone well at least. Perhaps tonight she'd be able to take a quick shower and slip into a hot, rose-scented bath. She had the freaking Jacuzzi she hadn't used in three years. Relena opened her e-mail.  
  
Or not. There were two messages from Heero Yuy, both with sizeable attachments.  
  
The first one she brought up was a list Quatre had given him and a report of poor plumbing. He also stated that he had contacted the desired companies already and discussed matters concerning salary, which mean she wouldn't have to, this relieving a generous bit of business. In the past, she might have appreciated the gesture. Tonight, she only rolled her eyes.  
  
She nearly did an impression of him and snorted at the signature of Heero Yuy, L1 Representative at the bottom of the message. She opened the second e-mail.  
  
She was shocked by the burst of color from the scanned invitation he'd sent her.  
  
"Dear Madam President Relena Darlian," she read off with a bit of surprise, even to her own ears, "you are hereby invited to a dinner party for the Colonial leaders presented by Laura Trieste, Representative of the L2 Colony sector at Duet on Third Avenue in Colony L2-0011..."  
  
She knew of Laura Trieste, naturally. She was a blatant woman who enjoyed extravagance and saw the romantic side to life rather than the mechanical side. She was, in some choice words, Relena's polar opposite. She knew, also, of Duet. It was a restaurant no older than three years, very mature, very expensive, and very suggestive. Oh, there was nothing indecent about the place at all, so she'd heard. But Duo and Hilde had gone there for their second marriage anniversary the year it opened, and Hilde had written her and described the sensual atmosphere of the place. That had been when she and Hilde had stayed in touch.  
  
And Heero Yuy was inviting her there to eat and, dear God, to dance. She was sure of it. Relena found the "When" line on the card and blanched. It was tomorrow evening.  
  
Could she just say no? Surely she could. Couldn't she? She'd turned down dozens of men in the past six years, aristocrats and politicians among them. Heero Yuy was a politician now...  
  
But, she thought was a bit of alarm, he was also Heero Yuy. Her protector.  
  
Former protector, she reminded herself stoically. His feats had been done long ago.  
  
She scrolled down to the end of the message with intent to scoff at his title again, but she only read a simple two lines:  
  
Come, Relena. Heero.  
  
Her heart banged against her chest like a gavel, deciding her fate. He had put it so simply.  
  
And she could still remember the things he'd done for her. Wing Gundam's shield over her body, defending her from the collapsing building; Heero covering her body with his own, rescuing her from falling debris and taking a cut himself...  
  
His body, even at fifteen, had set her temperature to warm. And the touch of his hand last week...  
  
Relena wrapped her arms around her waist and shivered. God, why was he affecting her this way? It had been six years, their "intimacy" was over and done with, she had gotten over it, over him...  
  
Right? Remembering the way he'd kissed her, even without experience, left her horrifically aroused.  
  
She promptly shut down the computer and stood up, heading for her bathroom, stripping from her suit jacket as she went.  
  
She really needed that hot bath.  
  
Relena sighed once she was inside the tiled room and the door was locked. Turning on the fan, she quickly divested herself of all material, tossing her clothes in a hamper by the wide shower stall.  
  
She let the faucet in the Jacuzzi run and added bath salts before she hopped into the stall.  
  
As she turned on the steaming stream and let it wet her hair, she wondered. Lathering shampoo into her hair, she wondered if not going to the Colonial dinner could negatively influence her career in any way. She didn't really think so. There was business on Earth that might pop up if she wanted it to, and she could decline the offer for the party. However, if she did go, it would make the Colony representatives happy. She could talk to Quatre, find out why in God's name he had asked Fogner to let Yuy take over L1.  
  
And, she reasoned, since she would be with him, she could convince herself that once and for all, she no longer was attached to Heero Yuy in any way. They could even make a business meeting out of it. She could find out exactly how many apartments were as faulty as his.  
  
Relena quickly rinsed her hair of the conditioner she'd added to the shampoo and hurriedly turned off the faucet in the Jacuzzi. Dipping into it, she let her head rest against the rubber pillow suctioned to the tub. The massaging jets combined with the luring scent of roses did little to keep her in the mind frame that she could easily reject Zero's former pilot.  
  
Absently, she wondered if Yuy would feel at all seduced if he smelled roses on her.  
  
She doubted it, and the near-romantic mood she'd been in dissipated completely. Relena forced herself to focus on the tension that was slowly being eased from her back thanks to those jets.  
  
Stepping from the tub twenty minutes later, she toweled herself dry with soft cotton and wrapped herself in an ankle-length satin robe from the former China's council leader. Her damp hair fell into water-darkened gold ringlets around her shoulders.  
  
When she walked out of the steamy bathroom on a quest for a nightgown or pajamas, she was surprised when she saw Trowa sitting on her couch.  
  
Trowa only saw her reflexively cover her breasts, which the satin clung to. She was quite indecent, and he didn't particularly care. Well, he did care. She was a gorgeous woman in a few yards of satin. And she was wet.  
  
He crossed his legs to hide an obnoxious, untimely hard-on.  
  
"What are you doing in here?" she asked. Was he checking in before the shift change? It couldn't be eleven yet, Relena was certain it was only around nine. "Trowa?"  
  
She was so cold, Trowa almost thought he saw steam from the traces of hot water rising from her. "Yuy called."  
  
"Yuy – he what?" she asked, still concerned with her decency or lack thereof.  
  
Trowa repeated, "Yuy called. My cell, in fact. I suppose he thought you weren't at home."  
  
He had a talent for frazzling her even indirectly. Damn him! "I see," Relena replied. "And? What did he say?"  
  
Trowa waited a moment, or so Relena thought, for her to gain her bearing. In reality, he was hesitating. "He says he'll see you tomorrow night."  
  
Relena grew furious almost instantly. He was playing a game of wills, was he? Jesus Christ, if the challenge were to see who was stronger in the emotions, she would win hands down. He had no idea what she'd been through.  
  
Leaving was a strong card to play, she decided. But she got the feeling that showing up and staying at it would be even stronger.  
  
With a bit of determination, Relena raised her nose and nodded curtly. "Would you relay a message to him for me?"  
  
"What will you have me say, Madam President?" he asked loyally.  
  
"Just one thing." So pleased with her advantage in the annoying war, Relena almost smiled.  
  
Almost.  
  
"He can bet he'll see me tomorrow night."  
  
Laura Alyssa LeDuc Peterson Trieste, a one-time widow on her third marriage, was very fond of the elegant. She had always believed space to be elegant, picturesque, even. All those stars were absolutely breathtaking; much more so than in the former France where she'd been born and had married for the fist time. By the time she had married ancient Roger Peterson, she'd been nominated for representative. And she'd found a love for the Colonies, especially at night when the streets sang ballads and entranced lovers.  
  
Duet offered it all; elegant décor, a view of space in its glory, and soft music. It was the perfect location for her dinner. She was especially fond of the certain libido-summoning air of the place. Her current spouse, Raphael Trieste, was seventy-eight years old – ages more than her forty. Laura sighed. If the shriveled old prick didn't have so much money, she'd have never given him a first glance. As it was, he was the reason she wore the classy diamond-and-emerald necklace that dipped between her nearly too- exposed, fake cleavage.  
  
Hopefully, the fool would die off soon, she thought as she gazed around at the invited guests milling about with champagne and cheerful tittering. She was running out of excuses for not getting into bed with him.  
  
She stopped sighing immediately when two handsome, familiar men walked into the restaurant, one of them with a saucy redhead in black taffeta on his arm. She recognized them instantly, of course. Quatre Winner was no other than the leader of the Colonies. The woman was Rosanna Palatolia, a rising designer and engineer from L6 something or other. The lean, dark one was Heero Yuy, new and, as the rumor said, temporary L1 representative. He had no date with him, though for the life of her, Laura couldn't imagine why. He was the most attractive man she'd seen in a while, and the way he smiled a little as he spoke to Winner was irresistibly alluring.  
  
Laura had a sudden, delicious picture of her full signature ending with a "Yuy." With a grin, she made her way over to the two ex-Gundam pilots.  
  
"Representative Winner, Miss Palatolia!" she exclaimed grandly. Quatre looked up and grinned at her.  
  
"Representative Trieste," he said charmingly, taking her hand and kissing the gloved back of it. He straightened and gazed around the room. "I must say, this is quite the glorious setup you've prepared for us."  
  
"Thank you, sir. I do hope you and your beautiful date have fun tonight."  
  
Rosanna gave her a bright smile, one that had probably fallen many boys in high school. "I expect we will. Will you be terribly busy tonight?"  
  
"I'll make the rounds, of course," Laura told her comfortably. "But I should be able to relax with you all soon."  
  
"Good," Quatre said. "Do enjoy yourself, will you?" Quatre worked to keep his smile in place. He shot a glance to Heero. Laura would enjoy herself, all right. And everyone else. He led Rosanna away.  
  
"Representative Yuy," Laura continued, turning to Heero and giving him her most provocative expression. With practice, she had perfected it; head tilted in, amused eyes looking up beneath lashes, and lips just barely spread. "I dare tell you that when I heard a Heero Yuy was representing L1, I thought we had a historical ghost among us." She laughed lightly. "But I'm sure you get that a lot."  
  
"Dozens of times," Heero lied. Right off the bat, from her the tone of her voice – and the few-hundred-dollar bosoms she unattractively flaunted – he was certain he did not like L2 Representative Laura Trieste. But he was fairly sure she liked him. Looking to follow behavior code, he kissed her hand as Quatre had done.  
  
"Are you here tonight alone?" Laura asked, hoping desperately he was.  
  
Heero allowed himself a genuine grin; thinking of Relena's challenging message she'd relayed through a very pissed-off Trowa amused him every minute of the day. "For the moment. Due to colliding schedules, my date and I made arrangements to meet here."  
  
"I see. And who is this woman?"  
  
"Ah." The edges of Heero's eyes crinkled as he shoved away laughter. "That will be a surprise, Representative."  
  
"Laura," she insisted and batted her lashes flirtatiously. "And Heero, yes?"  
  
Heero's smile faltered, but not noticeably. What could it hurt? "Why not?" he said, forcing his tone to sound jovial.  
  
"How about some champagne while you wait?"  
  
But the champagne or the waiting wasn't necessary. She held a power over all that she led. Though announcements weren't being made at this function, heads turned when Relena entered the room.  
  
Laura gasped. Heero felt a little anxious himself. Before his too-kind hostess could utter a sound, he quickly left her side to walk up the staircase to the restaurant's main entrance just as the Maitre d was taking the hooded black cloak from her shoulders.  
  
He made it halfway up to her before he had to freeze to stare.  
  
The cloak had done its job and had kept everything hidden until the last moment. She stood straight and tall, shoulders back, and was the very image of royalty and high society in soft silk of blue. It was darker than the sky color she'd worn to L1. Now it was more mature. Like sapphires, or like...his own eyes. The style of the dress complimented her every curve, from the way it clung tightly to the slopes of her shoulders at the top and around her breasts to how it billowed just slightly at her waist. There was a smatter of light-colored sparkles all over the material, as though it had been sprayed on. She wore sparkles on her bare shoulders and neck, which didn't bear jewelry as Laura's necklace. She wore a choker with a round medium sapphire, and it accentuated the slimness of her throat. Her hair... Jesus, her hair. It was more wavy than curly, but some groups of strands twirled into ringlets. Because it had been more tightly curled or partly up when he'd seen her, Heero hadn't noticed how long it had gotten. It flowed halfway down her back.  
  
He suddenly wished he could put his fingers in it.  
  
And then he noticed that, as though she had cast a strange spell over them all, the room had gone quiet. And that Relena was staring at him with her crystal-like eyes.  
  
"Representative Yuy," she murmured in greeting. The sounds of merrymaking resumed. Because it was customary at this type of event, Relena held out her hand, palm down.  
  
Heero grasped her ringless fingers, but only held them and her gaze for a moment. "I'm glad you made it," he told her lightly before lowering his head to brush his lips against her bare hand. He held back the reaction to the shock that spread through him. "Madam President." Before she could make any sharp reply, he tucked her arm through his and led her the rest of the way down the stairs before one of them tripped. And he would likely be the one to.  
  
"Madam President!" came Laura's voice. She appeared before them, looking very much bewildered. "I had no idea you would be attending. When Mr. Yuy said his date was to be a surprise, I never suspected it would be our lady president!"  
  
Part of Relena wanted to pinch the hand that covered hers in Heero's arm. "It's a pleasure for me to be here," she said with well-formed politeness. Running on automatic, she added, "It's really quite nice of you to give this party."  
  
Laura regarded the higher politician with a bit of venom in her tone. "Is it? I just deemed it necessary for the Colony representatives to be shown some great appreciation. Paparazzi usually want to see Earth office- holders, you know."  
  
If women were wolves, Heero thought absently, then Laura Trieste was a tiger. However, he thought with a bit of random pride, Relena was most definitely a lioness – queen of the jungle, as they said.  
  
"If that's the case," Relena replied easily and with forced cheerfulness, "then I would gladly hand over the press to you, Representative."  
  
Laura's eyebrows rose as though Relena could really do that. "Would you?"  
  
"If you'll excuse us," Heero jumped in as the orchestra currently onstage struck up a new tune, "President Darlian and I are going to dance."  
  
Relena's head snapped toward him, and her eyes shone like ice. Heero only gave a patient, if not a little wicked, smile.  
  
It had Relena's blood racing. The only good thing was that it would help her escape Trieste.  
  
"Have a pleasant evening, Representative," the president told her, and was whisked immediately away. The two left Laura feeling rejected.  
  
REVIEW PLEASE. 


	7. Resistance

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Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Ice Hot Chapter Seven

'Resistance'

By Gundam Girl

She watched Heero bow, and reflexively curtsied.  Around them, couples were dancing as well, enjoying the party, and overall being regular people who were fond of being happy.  When the two war acquaintances stepped into each other's personal space for the waltz, it seemed that only Relena felt tense.

"Have I mentioned how I think you look tonight?" Heero asked casually, so out of character compared to six years ago.

Relena set her teeth.  "No," she muttered intolerantly.

"Then I will.  You look gorgeous."  She looked hot, he thought frankly, and was doing his best not to imagine if what was under the dress was softer than the silk itself.  He'd only caught moonlit glances six years ago.  "Stunning." 

"I suppose I should say thank you."

"Say whatever you want."

Relena blinked, her expression cross.  "You probably don't want to give me that liberty."

"If it's insulting, I'll merely laugh."  To prove his point, Heero spun her in a fast circle around him, pulling her closer.  "Right here.  In your face."

Relena had to mentally remind herself that nothing he said could possibly amuse her.  "I think you look boring."  She ran her eyes over his black tuxedo, perhaps letting her gaze linger a bit longer than what was needed to examine his appearance.

His smile grew.  "Ah."

"Black is a common color, and to see _you_ in it…"  To see him in it left her heart fluttering, but she'd be damned before he knew.  However, since they were practically chest-to-chest, she wasn't so sure that he didn't.  "You're very dull in a crowd, Mr. Yuy."

He chuckled, and Relena blinked.  It was so odd to seem him look happy.  "That hardly bothers me."

"I have no doubt," she muttered.  "Was it necessary to make me a mystery?"

"Necessary?"  He raised both brows as though in deep thought.  "No," he said at length.  "Not at all necessary.  But very fun."

Relena pressed her lips together.  His dancing skill had improved greatly since they were fifteen.  So had his character.  "I wouldn't suspect you of ever having fun."

The half-cheery expression dropped, and he went suddenly serious.  His hold tightened on her waist.  When he spoke, his voice rushed over her like a warm wind.  "It's been six years.  Things change.  People change."  He tilted his forehead until it touched hers.  "We change.  Apparently."

Relena's breath came a little shallowly.  "What do you mean?" she found herself asking.  She despised the way he flustered her.  His thumb was gently stroking her hand, causing tingles in her arm.  She had to fight to keep herself from shivering.

"Well."  A bemused look crossed his face.  "You weren't so willing to leave me alone back then."  And clearly, she _was _willing****to leave him right now.  Her eyes had the faintest gleam, and he knew he had her attention.  "I recall the way you followed me around the world."

Her eyes snapped back to alertness.  "I wasn't following you, I was following the war!" she exclaimed, annoyed that he would think something so outrageous.  Even if it wasn't.  She tensed, but Heero's grip only strengthened.  "I'm quite sure you understand why our feelings toward each other shifted," she hissed. 

"Do I understand?"  His tone took on a dangerous thickness.  "Not exactly.  I'm myself.  I know one half of the story, not all of it."  They stopped dancing, though couples continued to twirl around them.  "I'd like to talk about it."

Relena felt as though she was being led to the guillotine.  She would surely lose her head in a moment.  "No," she grated, tempted to prick the shoulder of his that she held onto with her pink-painted fingernails. 

"Relena—"

"It's President Darlian," she instructed him with the first traces of real anger.

"Relena," he repeated, knowing he was pushing buttons.  "We _need _to—"

"Excuse me!"  Laura, cheerful and self-occupied even in voice, managed to call over the sounds of the party.  "Excuse me!  We'll be having dinner now, if you find a seat, and the entertainment will be starting soon."

Heero released her waist but kept hold of her hand to escort her to the seats Quatre and Rosanna had reserved for them at a four-person table.  He didn't take his eyes from hers as they walked.

"We'll talk later tonight."

Relena's stomach dropped.  Because they most likely would. 

Wufei had been bored.  He had enough to think about, of course; perimeter checks, security assurances, and basic eye-keeping on the president.  He'd stored a small camera in the sapphire on her choker, and had instructed her to keep it on at all times until she was inside the palace in the Sank Kingdom again.   

The boredom had been immediately erased, however, when Wufei had seen the look on Yuy's face when Relena's cloak had been removed.  Seeing a beautiful woman affected all heterosexual men; and the rumors of Heero being gay were undoubtedly false. 

He'd never seen a mouth fall open quite that way.  He'd been forced to smirk.  But then his own jaw had almost dropped when he'd seen and heard the amusement filling Yuy. 

It wasn't the Heero he'd fought with.  That Heero had been a focused, dedicated soldier who bothered with nothing but the mission.  But this Heero…

This Heero was still focused.  This one was focused entirely on the President of the ESUN.

"Different, isn't he?"

Wufei shut his eyes.  "There's no need for you to be here, Barton.  I've got it covered tonight."

_"Do I understand?" _Yuy's voice was heard through the speakers.  _"Not exactly.  I'm myself.  I know one half of the story, not all of it."_ 

Trowa walked into the tiny room crammed with computers security equipment and stood beside Wufei's chair.  "I won't be here long."

_"I'd like to talk about it."_

_"No."_

_"Relena—"_

_"It's President Darlian."_

_"Relena…"_

Wufei caught the sight of Trowa's fist clenching near his elbow.

_"We **need** to—"_

_"Excuse me!" _came that annoying Trieste woman's voice.

"Give it up, Barton," Wufei muttered stoically.  "You know you should."

_"Heero!  Miss Relena, over here," _Quatre's kind voice was heard.

_"We'll talk later," _they heard Heero tell her.

Trowa turned; he didn't need to see anymore.  He didn't leave Wufei with a farewell.  Only two, tersely spoken words:

"I know."

Rosanna Palatolia was a very sweet, straightforward woman, Heero learned when they sat down with them and dinner was served.  The smile she gave them radiated genuine fun.  And she was only a year younger than them.  Quatre seemed to like her very much.

"Madam President," she said to Relena, "it really is an honor to meet you, ma'am.  I've been admiring your work since I was fourteen.  It's what inspired me to be an engineer."

"Really?"  Relena nearly smiled herself, the woman's happiness was so great.  Nearly.  "How so, Miss Palatolia?"

"Um."  She suddenly took on a very shy countenance and toyed with one red curl.  "Well, mobile suits were historically used for labor.  The first mobile suit was constructed when the Colonies were first designed, as I'm sure you've heard.  I believe that the mobile suits used at that time were useful then, and that they'd be useful now.  Oh, I promise, there's nothing good about them being used to fight!" she exclaimed when Relena blinked.  "For a few years now, I've been working on a design for a machine that is similar to a mobile suit, but it could never be enhanced to later use as a major weapon.  It's better than a bulldozer, but lesser than a battle mobile suit."  Rosanna bit her lip.  "I…I know it may sound foolish to someone who's spoken against machines that can kill for so long.  Man is smart and our intelligence grows as our race lives on, and I guess that I'm no one to really say if my design couldn't ever kill a person…  Well, what do you think?"

Relena stared at Rosanna for a moment.  She looked so hopeful.  Nearly her age, Relena almost felt as though someone, and a woman, was empathizing with her beliefs.  Rosanna's dream was different, of course.  But it was a dream, and she was keeping the peace of the Earth and its Colonies in mind.

And she genuinely smiled for the first time in six years.

The expression didn't go unnoticed by Heero, who was fairly certain that his heart had stopped beating.  That was, until it came back full force and pounded in his ears.

He'd forgotten how amazingly beautiful she looked when she smiled.  Somehow…he'd forgotten.

"I think that is a genius idea," Relena told her.  She nodded, as though considering it herself.  "I do hope you'll let me look at the design when you're more comfortable with it."

Rosanna looked startled at first.  She gave Quatre a surprised glance as though to ask: Is this the woman so renown for her detachment toward others?

But Winner only shrugged and smiled.

"Of course!" Palatolia blurted, pressing a hand to her heart.  "Madam President, it would be my highest honor!"

"It would honor me, too," Relena said sincerely.  "I'll be sure to leave you with an address to my office before the end of the night."

Astounding, Heero thought.  It was astounding that a woman so cold could warm up to a young dreamer in the time in took to draw breath.  He smiled himself.

Would Relena surprise him any more tonight?  He hoped so.

Dinner and dessert was cleared away an hour later, and three spotlights in blue, green, and purple appeared on the curtain of the stage.  Rosanna and Quatre turned their chairs around just as the curtain rose.

What it revealed were two people; a man and a woman.  They were clad in black, legged leotards so that the spotlights' colors contrasted sharply.  The lights in the restaurant were dimmed, and everyone fell silent as a sultry duo of a saxophone and piano began to mingle.

The dancers "walked" around the stage, their bodies twirling and twirling in slow, steady circles until they both met face-to-face at center stage, hands to their sides.

And then the real choreography began.  The man's hands slid from the woman's ribs to her thighs, lifting her until her navel aligned with his forehead, while the woman arched her body first over the man's shoulder, then his back, creating a perfect bow with her spine.

As the man slowly lowered her, the woman's fingers tangled in his hair, threading through it and then down his neck, past his shoulder blades to the small of his back, around to his middle and up his chest, before her hands finally rested on his shoulders as her feet met the floor again.

Everyone seemed entranced.  Relena was no exception.  The two dancers slid over each other, as though they fused together and became one with the rhythm of the music.  It was slow…sexy.  Erotic, as they were supposed to be.  She found she couldn't tear her eyes away. 

Mostly the music was cool and compassionate, but after every few measures, there was a short, low rumbling of cymbals – a flash of fire when the dancers would shoot together, as though they couldn't resist doing so, despite all consequences.

"That's good art," Relena heard someone murmur.  Turning her head the slightest bit, still dazed, she saw it was Heero.  There was a husk to his voice that she hadn't recognized as his.  "The way they move."

She could feel his breath on her neck and cheek, and it was warm.  Dear God, it was so warm…  "They train and study," she told him logically.  She whispered, as though speaking too loudly would scare away the magic that she could somehow feel around her – until she reminded herself that magic wasn't real.

"They do," Heero agreed, his eyes on hers.  "But it isn't the will to learn about it.  It's the _need_to do it, and then to perform it, so they can prove that their need is beautiful.  It takes passion to do that."  He gestured to the stage just as the man slowly pushed his hips toward the woman's as they mimicked lovemaking.  "And courage."  Relena felt her knees tremble as his hand, calloused and wide-palmed, whispered just over the bare flesh of her arm, igniting sparks that sizzled and died, only to be replaced by more.  "And a little bit of love."

She withdrew, her eyes wide.  Though not because of horror, Heero noted.  She wasn't horrified.  She was a little afraid, yes, but mostly, she was caught in the moment, and in the haze of the sensuality around them.  "Those dancers don't love each other."

"They don't have to love each other.  Can't you see it?"  Relena nearly shuddered; his voice was so low, so seductive.  "Every time they lift their legs, angle their heads, meet gazes."  He lowered his hand, but Relena felt as though he'd touched her, intimately.  And all he'd done was watch her.  "They love – maybe not each other – but they do love."

The music faded, and they both turned.  The woman's legs were positioned between the man's, her arm curved over her hanging head while the man supported her back with one arm.  His other arm was stuck out to the side, his fingers gracefully stretched.

The lights flooded on; everyone stood and applauded.  Relena had a bit of difficulty getting to her feet, and Heero smirked at her.  She straightened and clapped with just as much enthusiasm and appreciation as everyone else.

Now if only her damn knees would stop shaking!

"Thank you, everyone!" Laura called out from the stage when the dancers exited.  "I'm so very happy you all could be here this evening, and I thank you for your time.  I hope you had a wonderful night, thank you for all you do for the Colonies.  Have a safe trip home, ta-ta!"

"She certainly knows how to send a crowd packing," Quatre commented good-naturedly.  "Although, good Lord, she can be so annoying."  He took Rosanna's hand and rolled his eyes.  The redhead grinned.  "Are you two leaving?" he asked his companions.

"Yeah," Heero confirmed.

"Yes," Relena said.  "Have a good night, Quatre.  Rosanna."  She smiled again, though her mouth was firmer this time.  "Contact me when you can."

"Of course, Madam President!"

Relena, having no other choice, allowed Yuy to retrieve her cloak for her and escort her from the building to the shuttle-port.  It was what gentleman did, and although he would never pass as a gentleman in her eyes, she was forced to treat him like one.

When they arrived at the port, her shuttle was already prepped and ready for departure.  She climbed out of the rented limousine, prepared to make a frosty farewell.

"Keep walking," he instructed, "we don't want to miss it."

She blinked.  "Excuse me?"

Heero took hold of her upper arm and fairly tugged her to the boarding station.  "The shuttle will leave without us."

"Us?!" she cried indignantly.  No, he wouldn't.  He _wouldn't_.

"I'll be seeing you to your home, Relena."

He would.  Half flabbergasted, she could only stammer.  "You'll do no such thing!  I was given no notice, nothing to—"

"Notice isn't necessary," he said mildly, flashing his own ticket when she handed hers to an attendant with a dazed mind.  "Don't you know I'd likely be hanged if something happened to you on your way back to Earth?"

"There are trained security guards on the shuttles," she began.

He shot her a look.  "And they do half-assed jobs."  He practically threw her into a seat, plopping down immaturely beside her.

"You rude stalker!" she partially shrieked.  "You can't just _tell_me you're going to see me home."

"Then I'll say it."  He turned fully to her, head bowed in mock respect, a hand lying on his heart.  "I will see you home, Madam President."

She had little to say to him, but what she did have didn't work.  "You're insufferable.  You always have been."

"For the good of others only, I assure you," he replied calmly, buckling his seatbelt.  "In this case, for the good of you."

"You want no good for me," she shot out and immediately wished she hadn't.  Heero's eyes hardened to blue stones. 

"This isn't the place," he said softly.  "We'll talk about that when we get to New Port City.  Be prepared to say something, and damn it, be prepared to listen."

She glared.  "I'll listen all the hell you want."

Heero raised his eyes to the ceiling.  "Good."

"Good, yes."  Her fists clenched in her lap.  "We'll see how much goddamn good it does you when I don't believe a fucking word."

Heero was surprised at her language but didn't show it.  Instead, he propped one leg up on his knee and settled in for the flight to Earth.


	8. Broken Time Limit

Thanks for reading, guys. Keep reviewing, please!

---

Ice Hot Chapter Eight

'Broken Time Limit'

By Gundam Girl

---

They were silent the rest of the way to the Sank Kingdom.  Anything that either might have said would only be scathing, and Heero was certain that there would be enough cuts inflicted tonight that it could hold off until they reached the palace at about one in the morning.

They went up to her quarters for the discussion, Relena closing and opening her hands as they went.  It had become her nervous habit, Heero noted.  Hopefully, she would stick with her own pacifistic policies.

It hadn't been odd entering the palace; the lobby and the staircase they been in and on had never held any certain significance to him.  But entering her private suite…he started to remember things he had once tried so hard to forget.

Her bedroom, for instance, was right at the back of the sitting room they were in.  Off to the right, the door that led into it was closed, and Heero was grateful.  He wasn't sure what he'd do with her, him, and a bed alone together. 

Relena turned on a lamp so he could see her glaring at him.  "Do you care to sit?" she asked venomously, although she remained standing.

He stuck his thumbs in the pockets of his tuxedo pants.  "No, thank you."  The last thing he needed was to give her even the advantage of being on her feet. 

She half-shrugged, not really looking to give a damn.  "Suit yourself."

A silent thirty seconds passed, and Relena stared hard at him.  "Well?" she demanded.  "You were so intent on speaking to me, so talk.  I have very little to say to you."

She was trying to treat the subject he was about to breach as though it was a piece of dust she could just brush off at any time.  And she was right, he had intended to speak to her.

But now that he was here, he really had no idea what in hell he had wanted to say.  So he examined her again as she undid the clasp on her cloak and hung it on a rack near the door.  She truly was exquisite in that gown, very dainty, very delicate-looking.

Yet, almost un-Relena like.  At least not the Relena he had cared so strongly for.

"It all began in this room," he heard himself comment mildly.  "I remember coming in here first to check for security leaks, and you got impatient with waiting outside the door."  He gestured to the slab of wood she stood in front of, taking a quarter of a second to note the slender column of her revealed neck, accentuated by the slim choker Wufei's camera was in.  "I was so annoyed when you came in without my clearance."

Relena seemed unaffected.  "You seem a lot more loose now than you did back then."

"You'd be surprised what a 0.2 amount of alcohol in your system can do for you," he said with a smirk.  "Have you ever been drunk, Relena?"

Her chin rose defiantly.  "That's my business."

"Fine."  He leaned against the wall opposite from her, giving her the space she wanted – for now.  "I was drunk for probably three months after that, and when I wasn't, I had too much of a headache to get out of bed."

Her first instinct was to worry, but then Relena remembered that concern wasn't her privilege anymore, not concern for him.  "If you're going to say something, Yuy, get it out."

"I can't.  Make some assurances."  He narrowed his brows at her.  "I don't want any politicians bombarding you now that they expect you home."

"Jesus Christ, Yuy, it's one-thirty in the morning—"

"Call someone.  It just might be five before I leave."

Relena held in a sigh, then reached for her phone.  Tapping in a quick memorized number, she muttered into the phone.  "Peter?  Yes," she said to the man who had held on as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the past six years.  The people had always liked him, and Relena trusted him.  "The party was fine.  Listen, inform anyone who should know, including Jestina, that I'll be in Brussels, at the presidential building there… I am not giving that information, Peter, but I'll be there.  Yes, that's it.  Goodnight."

She hung up the phone with a snap, and met his eyes with a sharpened gaze.  "Well."

"For starters," he jumped, finding the first string being tugged, "your attitude."

"My attitude."

"Right," he went on.  "In the past six years, you went from the kindest person I knew to the iciest.  You cared so much about everyone and everything; the people, the environment.  You had heart, Relena, something a person didn't see a lot of in politicians."  He moved from the wall and took a step – only one step – toward her.  "I admired you for that.  I wanted to serve you for that.  In a way, I was no more than just one of your followers."  He tore his hands from his pockets.  "I wish that spirit was still alive in you."

His words unsettled her in a very angering way.  How dare he try to tell her about spirit! "That's the thing, Yuy," she spat.  "When I had spirit, it got torn apart.  Or stolen.  Maybe you stole it.  Or maybe," she suggested, devastatingly lowly, "you tore it apart."

Heero tensed; he'd known this would come.  "That night, Relena.  Remember.  You invited me in your bed, not for what happened, perhaps.  But you did invite me in."

"And you came."  Relena realized the sentence was the perfect opening for what she truly needed to torture him with.  "I didn't, Yuy.  Or don't you remember?"

His eyes went dark, his body taut.  "Listen to me," he hissed scathingly.  "Not a day.  Not a day goes by when I don't think about that night – constantly.  It's been six years, Relena.  That's 3,153,600 minutes of regret.  Now imagine that, Relena."

She could.  Horribly…she could.

"I knew what I was doing at the time.  That just made it all the more terrible.  That night… God."  Relena realized for the first time that his hands were shaking.  "That night must have been hell for you, Relena."

"Hell.  Define hell, Heero.  I hardly believe you can."  She swallowed.  Her mouth was dry, but things needed to be said.  "I wasn't naïve that night, Heero.  I knew it would…hurt.  And it did, there was pain.  But what happened after the next morning…"

He eyed her warily.  "Nothing happened."  And then she started.

"Exactly!" she half-growled.  "Nothing.  Not a damn thing.  You were gone, you bastard, you were gone after a night with me!  No message, no note, no word to anyone.  You fucked and left."

That _did _chill him him.  Watching her, with coldness pent up over six years freezing in her eyes, Heero felt as though she had iced him until he was numb.  "I was gone," he said softly, "because…"  He hesitated.

"If you say that it was wrong, Yuy," she seethed threateningly.

"No!" he immediately protested.  "Relena, no.  I left because it was _right_."

Relena went still, her anger transforming into confusion.

"It felt right that night, when I was with you.  Shit," he cursed, hating it and himself.  "But there were flaws in something that shouldn't have had flaws.  I wasn't naïve, either.  I knew there'd be pain for you if you were a virgin, and I knew you were.  But I was careless, wrapped up.  Honestly, Relena…"  He sighed, despising what he knew he would have to lay bare before him.  "I cared so much about hurting you that I did instead of didn't.  And I didn't realize it, because the whole time I thought you were…"

When his words died, Relena squared her shoulders.  "Well, I wasn't."

Heero Yuy feared nothing but the emotions people directed at him.  He was partially horrified by the look of resentment Darlian gave him, and he only knew one thing to say.

"I'm sorry, Relena."

She couldn't feel.  Not her fingernails biting into her palms, not the slight sweat at her temples, and not her melting heart.  Over the days since she'd seen him again, she'd expected thousands of words, hundreds of things he could say to her…

But not "I'm sorry".

"What I did," he said softly, "was unforgivable.  And I don't expect you to ever let that night go.  But, Relena…"  His voice took on a very husky tone.  "Can you imagine what it's been like for me, too?"

Yes, she could.  But she didn't want to think he'd been in pain.  She didn't want to think he'd been hurting as much as she had.

He took two more steps toward her.  "That night…I had you.  More than in just my head, you were in my arms.  I was holding you.  You were holding me.  If you don't believe me, fine, but I'd wanted you for so long, Relena.  And then I…"  He jerked, as though the memory of it singed him.  "I rushed it.  I ruined it for you.  And, in a way, for myself.  You weren't getting any of the pleasure I felt."

"I hardly believe you feel this way," she told him, but her voice was a whisper, and her eyes were wide.  "You didn't care.  That night, it was all so painful."  More than physically, she wanted to tell him, but held back.  "And then you were gone for the next six years, only to walk in as a fellow politician little more than a week ago.  How can I…"  She shook her head and swallowed, suddenly afraid that she would begin to cry tears she hadn't let fall in so, so long.  "How can I believe anything that you say?"

The former Gundam pilot took one more step toward her, and it brought him achingly close to her.  He whispered to her, "Would you believe something that I do?"

Relena blinked rapidly for a moment.  "I…"

His hand fell onto her shoulder, lightly, and trailed up the side of her neck to the back of her head.  His fingers threaded into golden hair that he'd been dreaming about touching for years.  Her lips came apart as though she might protest, and he waited a beat in case she did.  But she said nothing.  "Relena..."  As the first of her tears spilled over, he lowered his open mouth to hers. 

Relena felt as though she'd been wrapped in some kind of hand-made blanket from heaven as his arms came around her, pulling her to him.  She didn't resist, and returned the kiss with equal passion as he slowly unhooked the choker at her neck and dropped it.

---

Wufei watched as his camera went black when the choker hit the floor.  Although he still had sound, there was really no point in continuing his guard without visuals.  Besides, Yuy was with her.

With a simple flick of his wrist, he shut down the camera.  "Holy shit," he muttered.

---

"Relena?" he said.

Relena's eyes opened to look at him curiously.  "It's supposed to be that way?" she asked softly, with an almost timid air.

Heero nodded seriously.  "Yeah."  He leaned forward to briefly catch her lips with his.  "It's supposed to be that way."

She smiled again.  "I'd dreamed for so long…but I couldn't know."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be.  Not anymore," Relena told him with a soft sigh.  She snuggled against his side.  "You'll stay, won't you?"

He smiled himself, brushing some golden hair from her face and circling his index finger around her bare shoulder.  "As long as you want me to."

She caught his hand and kissed the fingers of it.  Lightly, she murmured, "Pagan makes terrific waffles."

Heero laughed.  "Somehow I remember that."  He pulled her completely against him.  "It takes a lot longer than six years to forget food like that."  Reaching over her, he turned off the lamp, plunging the bedroom into total darkness.

He had expected that she'd want to sleep, but as a now-familiar hand snaked down his navel to the most sensitive of places, he realized she was anything but tired.  Grinning in the silvery moonlight coming in through the window, he reached for her, kissing her throat, nibbling at the soft flesh there.

"You better have Pagan make Belgian waffles," he suggested.

---

Heero never got waffles.

At six o' clock that morning, a mere three hours after they'd finally gone to sleep, Relena's bedside phone rang. 

Heero was the first to reluctantly move after the fifth ring, but Relena beat him to the receiver.

"He'o?" was the murmur, not aware that the caller's eyebrow shot up; President Darlian was usually very alert if a call came in the middle of the night.

"Relena?"

Relena blinked through the haze of sleep, leaning against Heero's bare, warm chest for warmth.  His hand came to her stomach, fingers circling her belly button.  "Peter?  What is it?  It's…ugh." Not willing to try to comprehend what the figures on her digital clock could possibly mean, she settled with, "Horribly early."

"Relena, you need to wake up!  What the hell are you still at home for?"

She binked again, this time remembering what she had told Peter.  "I…" she began, but there was no cover story to think up.

"The Brussels mansion was bombed!" Peter exclaimed through the phone, loud enough that she was completely awake now.  "It's completely gone up in flames!  I was panicked, Jestina's been crying for the past hour, Secretary Markinson is on the verge of hysteria.  What the hell is going on, Relena?"

Relena's mouth opened and closed once, then twice.  "Peter…  Have there been any casualties?"

A soft sigh came from the extension.  "No.  There were several guards injured, but not too severely.  Second-degree burns at the most.  They'll be okay."  There was a pause.  "Relena…  I usually wouldn't pry, but in this case, I feel I am entitled to.  Why did you tell me you'd be in Brussels and you stayed home?  I checked with Preventers, and Lady Une told me that no officers had been assigned to your security for travel.  Then I called the airlines and found out you'd never booked a ticket.  I'm going crazy here, and as the Minister…"

"Peter," Relena cut in lightly.  "I'm sorry.  You have every right to be upset with me."  Her fist curled into the bedsheet.  "I'm upset with myself.  But please…don't ask questions."  Her head turned, and her eyes met Heero's.  His gaze was dark and questioning, certainly worried.

"I'm coming to Brussels," she said, never taking her stare from his.  "Meet me there in four hours."

When she hung up, she took a few precious moments to turn and bury her face in Heero's chest.  His arms came around her supportively.

It wasn't until he felt water on his skin and he pushed her back to see the tears that slipped down her cheeks that he began to inquire.

"Relena?" he said softly.  "What's wrong?  What happened?"

She shook her head for a moment.  Her golden, mussed hair swung back and forth in disheartened sadness.  "I lied, Heero.  And people were hurt.  When I told Minister Martinez that I was in Brussels…someone attacked the mansion.  By bomb."

He gripped her shoulders, his hand sliding over her cheek.  "Relena…"

"And what else," she gasped, full out miserable now, "is that I didn't care, for just a moment.  All I wanted to do was hang up and roll over and go back to you."  Her body trembled beneath his hands.

"Relena," he said firmly.  "Relena, listen.  If you had told them you were here, talking to me, the bombers would have only attacked this place.  You'd be dead, and I'd be dead.  Peygan would be dead, and I think…"  Oh shit.  "Would Wufei be dead?"

Her shoulders drooped.  "Yes, he would."

"So, Wufei knows I'm here."  Well, he was probably the best choice.  Had it been Duo or Trowa, Heero was fairly certain slugging would be involved.  "What do you want to do?" he asked her softly.

"Come to Brussels with me," she asked softly.  "Please."  Her lips met the smooth hardness of his shoulder.  "I can't… I can't go by myself."  Now that her walls were weak, she was positive she'd never make it dry-eyed without him.  "Heero…"

"Don't even ask."  He kissed her forehead.  "Whenever you need me, and wherever, I swear I'll be there."

Her head fell.  "It's my fault."

"No."  His jaw tightened; there were still morons, after ten years who believed that fighting was what the world needed.  And those morons had caused the woman in his arms pain that he had ascertained would not occur again.  "It's not.  Not your fault."

And, he decided as he climbed out of the bed with her to get dressed, he would crush them.

---------------------------------------------------

Review please!


	9. Game Tension

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Note: This is a lemon to this chapter, but this in the edited version. There is an uncut version on Blissful Ignorance. The link to this lemon and the one for chapter eight can be found on my bio.

Ice Hot Chapter Nine

'Game Tension'

By Gundam Girl

The plane ride to Brussels was bewilderingly tense, considering they had just stepped into an intimate relationship. They had showered in minutes. Rather embarrassingly, Relena had gone to Wufei on night duty to ask him for a change of his clothes that he kept at the palace for his watch. Because of the camera he'd kept on her, there was no reason to explain why she needed the clothes, but that didn't make it any easier asking for them.

Heero held her hand as the place touched down on Belgian soil. Her fingers were cold and tight around him, and the pulse in her wrist had been slowing and quickening for the whole trip.

Peter Martinez was waiting for them in the airport, and he quickly ushered the two of them into a private cab. Because of Wufei's borrowed Preventer uniform, he most likely believed that Yuy was her acting bodyguard, called to service unexpectedly. Most politicians assumed that the Gundam pilots' lives were dedicated to Relena. Stories had been spun saying that the pilots weren't accused of murder and charged for war crimes because of Relena's intervention. Nothing of the sort had risen, of course, but nothing could be done about public imagination.

"Relena," was the first thing Peter said in the cab, completely ignoring Heero's presence. "I will do as you ask and not question your business. But you have to understand; lives were put in danger because there was a pretense of you being in Brussels today. The local citizens are scared senseless; the impression on the representatives here either isn't a good one." The middle-aged man gave her a firm expression. "Do you understand?"

"It's fortunate," Heero cut in before Relena had a chance to make a sound, "that President Darlian was not here. Obviously, Minister, there is a mole in the government, and that mole has every intention of leaking the president's whereabouts to her would-be assassins."

"Obviously," Peter agreed. "But, Relena, as much as most of the people here would gladly die for you—"

"I never would have it that they do so," Relena told him sharply. Heero nearly flinched; she'd gone right back to her state of disregard for emotion.

She'd gone right back to being like his former self.

"Minister, focus on the highest priority for the moment," Heero said to Martinez. "The most we can do for now is try to track down the mole in inside circles and destroy it."

Relena went rigid, and thankfully Peter didn't notice. Listening to Heero so effortlessly speak of execution as though he were chatting amiably about the last football season caused her to feel very unsettled. And Relena despised feeling unsettled.

Peter stared at Heero for a minute, as though he could hardly comprehend what Yuy was saying, but then he nodded. "Of course, you're right. Relena, how do you wish to go about this situation? I can get Lady Une on the phone right now if you want. Also, it may be necessary for you to make a public statement."

Relena pursed her lips together, making herself look as thought she was deep in thought. In reality, she was just stalling. She knew what had to be done. Her personal emotions were muddled at the moment, but her duty to the ESUN was clear.

She took a deep breath through her nose, then met Peter square in the eyes. His were green and narrowed at the moment, consternation clear on his face. He would carry out whatever order she gave him.

"Call Lady Une later today," she instructed. "As for the statement… Give me until tomorrow. Hopefully by then, Peter, some progress will have been made."

"Expect my best."

It was all Peter could say, and he saw them to the hotel he had already booked a two-room suite in for them.

Relena might have smiled if the current thoughts running through her head weren't so grave. Peter didn't know that they would only be using one of the bedrooms. As it was, she only seriously acknowledged one thing.

Neither her and Heero said anything until they were in their suite and the door had been shut and bolted. She spoke first.

"Why, Heero?"

Heero, whose expression had looked at though he were solving some intricately challenging puzzle since they had met with Peter, paused in the task of taking off his – Wufei's – Preventer jacket. But then he finished shrugging out of it, slinging the material across the back of an armchair in the sitting room.

"Who ever really knows?" he replied finally. Turning to her, he opened his arms.

It was something she had envisioned briefly at sixteen. It surprised her that he was actually welcoming her into his embrace, but all she could do was step into it. His arms, warm, strong, and taut with hardly leashed tension wrapped around her. Relena set her head against his chest for a moment, but then looked up to meet his gaze. His eyes were grim. There'd been moments in the past six years when she'd wished so desperately that they were still watching her; now they were. But the emotions in them were not what she had hoped to see before. Resent, even hatred, burned in his Prussian blue irises.

"Heero," she murmured. "Please don't look like that."

He blinked, as though trying to determine what physical task was necessary to fulfill her request. She lifted a hand to cup his cheek and surged up to her toes so she could catch his lips with hers. She hadn't felt so lost since Duke Dermail had given her the option of becoming Romefeller's Chief Representative. She was familiar with the loneliness and the sense of hopelessness. The difference was that this time Heero wasn't out fighting a Gundam battle with her brother. He was right here with her.

Heero's hands came to her shoulders, gently pressing her to him. It was when she slipped her hands under his shirt that he pulled back.

"Are you really wanting to do this?" he asked sincerely, stilling her hands. One thing he'd learned from the past six years was consideration of others' feelings. He would do his best with Relena's.

Her response was to kiss his collarbone, and the simple action sent fire coursing through his blood. How strange that what he had done to her earlier today was coming right back to him. She pushed his shirt over his head. Give, and you shall receive – apparently.

He abandoned the wry humor when he felt something wet fall onto his stomach. When his gaze refocused, he saw the tears slipping down her cheeks. "Relena," he said.

Relena quickly dashed the tears away. "It's nothing, just… I wasn't ready for this again."

His ran his fingers through her hair. "It'll be over soon."

She was already shedding her own clothes. "Let's not talk about it." She went for his belt like earlier, undoing it and loosening his fly.

Heero respected her desire to think of other things, and there was certainly nothing like mind-numbing sex to keep her occupied. Gripping her upper arms, he made to steer her to the first bedroom they could find.

Relena seemed to think that would take too long. A glance about the room for a couch would be a waste of time as well, so with a slightly push to his shoulders, they both lowered to the floor.

---

Later, Heero kissed her damp forehead. "Will you let me tell you something?"

Relena tensed. Something. That was unspecific, to say the least. Something could be anything. Anything at all. And from Heero, she didn't want just anything.

From Heero…she didn't know what she wanted.

"Heero," she said softly, turning her eyes to his. "I don't—"

His lips skimmed over her cheek to her neck. Her body's instant reaction was to lift her chin to give him better access to her neck. Flicking out his tongue, he sampled the salt pooled between her collarbones. "Don't what?" he asked.

Don't? Relena had to wonder what "don't" could mean. Certainly not "don't do that" because Lord, the sensations filtering through her could have gone on forever and she'd have been happy.

The light clicked back on in her head and she pushed on his shoulders, forcing both of them to sit up. "Heero," she began, more firmly this time. "I don't think it's a good idea for either of us to…to start taking risks."

The eyebrow that rose on his face was a perfect arch. "Risks?" he asked, a slight ring of amusement to his voice. "This morning, when I headed to Earth with you. Are you saying that was no risk?"

Relena let out a breath. "That isn't what I—"

"And then after that," he barreled on, lips tight, "when we – _discussed_ six years ago. Wasn't that a risk, too?"

"Well, obviously, and—"

"Of course they are," Heero cut through, "but those risks aren't anything compared to the risk after that discussion. It wasn't the first time, Relena, but it was the first time it was good. But I'm pretty sure…" He closed his hand and brushed his knuckles against the inside of her thigh. "In fact, it definitely wasn't the last. And what we did here, just now." Cupping her cheek, he pressed his lips determinedly to hers. "That won't be the last, either."

"Heero," she gasped, left breathless from the kiss. "Listen to me. Whatever you want to say, you shouldn't."

His eyes sparked a bit, not with irritation, but with subtle glee. "Is saying it not good enough? Why don't I head over to the Brussels TV station and shout it over the network?"

"Heero," Relena hissed, urgent now. "Heero, can you understand at all that it isn't the right time yet?"

Not the right time. Okay. They had just performed the most expressional, intimate act two people could, and it wasn't the right time to tell her he loved her? Or…it wasn't the right time for her to hear it?

They were both quiet for a minute, still on the floor. Both completely nude, the cool temperature in the suite was beginning to seep in. Heero's voice lowered.

"When will the right time be, Relena?" His hand was resting on her knee now. His other hand held hers, and her fingers were cold.

When she didn't say anything for over two minutes, Heero stood up, dragging her to her feet. "Let's go to bed," he suggested, adding hurriedly, "To sleep. It's already been a long day, and in a few hours, it's going to be even longer."

The sun was already bright in one p.m. Belgium. They drew the drapes and crawled into the queen bed in one of the bedrooms. Heero stayed awake, his back to her. He could hear her even breathing and knew she'd gone to sleep.

What he didn't know what that the tears she'd been holding in had fallen from her eyes onto her pillow.

---

They were at the Brussels Council building six hours later. Rested, Relena was composed as she faced the old men, one middle-aged woman, Lady Une, and Peter Martinez of the ESUN Earth Council. Peter was fine. The others bothered her. It was often difficult to breathe the same air as them. Ever since she had been elected over Peter six years ago, she'd felt as though she were being tested. All of the people she sat with at the long, rectangle table had been in politics longer than her, although some of them had just recently been moved up into the Council. A handful of them believed that she was too young to be President. Every man on the left side of the table didn't believe _women_should be in politics period, let alone a twenty-six year-old one.

But Relena had dealt with the constant pressure for a long time. She would deal with it today.

Still, she wished Quatre were there. Even if they had lost main contact, he'd always quietly supported her through these nerve-racking meetings. But since the disaster threatened only the Earth, the Colonies had not been included in the current ordeal.

"Madam President." Lindsay Monroe, the only other woman on the Council and Manager of Earth Exports and Imports, held up her pen to attract Relena's attention. "I must be honest with you. I am concerned about sending resources to MO-IV. We cannot afford a risk of losing a whole shipment. If the carrier was to be destroyed in travel, we would not be able to launch another one for several weeks. The Colonies food and water supplies would drop horribly."

"That," Relena told her slickly, "is something that must be improved quickly. There are more reasons for a resource launch to fail than terrorists. We'll look into emergency resource shipment techniques. Secretary Markinson, please make note of that."

Markinson, two chairs down on her left, was one of the people who scarcely approved of Darlian's presidency. Though there had been times when he'd been forced to admit that Relena did her job well, he admitted it grudgingly. He'd voted for Peter six years earlier.

Heero paid close attention as the meeting dragged on. The Council members spoke of investigation, and Lady Une, who had been called to this meeting to represent Preventer in person, reminded them of their present limits.

"Right now, it is fortunate that certain…" Une met Heero's eyes briefly, knowing full well why he was in one of her men's uniforms. "Deceit led the attackers to believe Madam President was elsewhere than her home. Preventer is, of course, looking into the matter. I am personally leading the investigation. But remember, ladies and gentlemen, our authority is restricted."

Relena thought hard. The action she wanted to take would be met with opposition, resentment, but not denial.

She decided the risk was worth it. "Gentleman and lady," she said, nodding to Lindsay. "I propose… No." She could have cursed her unprofessional falter. "Lady Une, I fully grant you permission to do whatever is necessary to locate these terrorists."

Henry Le'Forge, Vice Foreign Minister, shot from his chair. He had taken her position six years ago, and Relena had never particularly liked him. Since he'd taken office he'd been trying to tarnish her name, and her adopted father's, by "overpowering" their history as VFM. "I object, Madam President! We cannot fully rely on Preventer! I was born in the Colonies, Madam, and I tell you – they will disapprove. Preventer is an Earth-focused organization."

"There have been Preventers stationed in the Colonies since A.C. 196," Relena pointed out, miffed by the ludicrous explanation.

"True as that is," Le'Forge granted, "they could want war. And Preventer has no experience in outward terrorist attacks. "

The room fell silent. Relena's fist closed on the table's surface and she struggled, only for a moment, to remain calm. "And why, Mr. Le'Forge, is that?" Her voice was dangerous and low. "It is because ever since 195, we have been working to keep any terrorist attacks from happening."

"Relena," Peter began.

"I did not," she told the Council members, giving each person at the table a stable, level stare, "surrender my childhood to a war only to watch the peace we gained after it be torn apart by a group of would-be revolutionists." She lifted her chin in defiance to all who would oppose her. "And so I will not allow this mangled act of violence to continue. If I may, I wish to remind you of the Mariemaia Khushrenada threat and how Preventer's efforts saved thousands of lives in Brussels. Lady Une, you have freedom at your hands." She stood up, and Heero stood at her side. His eyes flashed the same ways her did.

"Thank you, all, for attending this…" Her irises blazed at Le'Forge. "Conference. Meeting adjourned."

She was the first one out of the meeting room, and Relena headed swiftly for the elevator. Heero was at her heels.

"I shouldn't have done that. God damn it," she swore as soon as the elevator doors slid to a shut. Alone with Heero, she pounded a fist on the handrail. "I fucking made an excuse for myself. Like anyone in there gives a damn about my 'torn' childhood." Her hand instantly flew to her mouth, and she met Heero's eyes. "God, I… Heero, I'm sorry. I didn't really… It wasn't so…"

"Yours was as hard as anyone else's past," Heero told her, gripping her shoulder to offer support. "You lost your father, Relena. I didn't have one to lose."

Succumbing to a moment of weakness, Relena began to blubber. "But you… What J did to you, Heero, it was—"

"Years I can't get back." Heero smiled a little. "But J can keep those years in his grave for all I care. I'm actually glad for what he turned me into."

The doors opened on the ground floor, and Relena let him take her hand to lead her into the sunshine. "Heero?"

"Relena. Honestly, I'm okay with this." They stopped in the middle of the parking lot. "The way I see it…" Dipping his head, he pressed his lips to hers in a quick yet mind-numbing kiss that left her breathless in two seconds. "If I hadn't been sent to Earth to fight in Wing, I wouldn't have fought Zechs."

An airy laugh bubbled from inside her. "Zechs?"

He pulled her along toward the car they'd rented. "Exactly. And if I hadn't have met Zechs, I'd never have gotten knocked unconscious and into the sea."

"Now that I think about it, I'd never want to leave behind that memory behind either."

"And if I hadn't gotten knocked to sea and onto the shore, this cute girl wouldn't have found me on the beach, and I wouldn't be here with her right now." When he opened the door for her, he trapped her between it and himself. He gently nipped her bottom nip. She gasped in response, and he took her hips, brushing his fingers along the waist of her suit pants. "Doubtfully."

He'd have to take her in the back seat of the car if he kept touching her like that, Relena decided. Since they were in the Council building's parking lot, she figured that was a bad idea. With a half-formed smile, she pushed his hands away.

She was a little surprised that he was still so warm toward her after this morning. She had, for the most part, simply brushed him off. Heero was acting as though it had never happened.

With some dread, she wondered if maybe he wished it never had.

It wasn't that she didn't want Heero to love her. Dear God, she'd daydreamed about him saying the words to her when she was sixteen. But for him to actually _want_ to say them…it was difficult to take in.

He had left once. And though he was back now, it was always hard to get over that point. Heero's legs still worked, and at any minute, he was could easily walk out again.

No, she trusted him, had always trusted him, even in the throes of hate for him. And she had hated him, fiercely.

But now… Relena was more than a little afraid that the hate had done an abrupt about-face.

She squashed the thought by kissing him.

"Hotel," she said. "I need to put a call in to Jestina, so she can keep notes for when I get back."

Heero had just been thinking himself that a back seat wouldn't have been that difficult to make love to her in. With a sigh, he obligingly gave her room to get in the car, joining her seconds later.

"Can I at least take you out to dinner in a few hours?" he asked, smiling as he pulled out of the parking space.

"Dinner?" Her voice was coated with amusement. "I'd love it. But I have nothing to wear, and neither do you."

"That's just fine. We'll order room service, and we'll go naked." He turned his head to grin at her. "How does that suit you?"

She was about to tell exactly how that suited her. She would have told him that she'd love every minute of dinner, of the wine he was sure to buy her, of course. And then she would have told him exactly what she would have loved to do after dinner.

Relena would have…if the fire and darkness hadn't devoured both of them.

------

All three lemons for this fic are now linked in my bio. If you want to go check them out, please do. And review please!


	10. Checkmate

Hey, guys! Is anyone else REALLY glad this is the end? Because I'm happy to provide you with it. More notes at the bottom.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing and am making no profit from this fan story.

Ice Hot – Chapter 10

'Checkmate'

By Gundam Girl

Relena woke up in the New Port City Hospital fourteen hours later. The light that shot hot coals into her eyes made her want to keep them closed, but she had an immediate question on her mind.

"Heero…"

"Relena? Oh God!" Zechs sounded very panicked as he took his sister's hand. "Finally. You've been out for a long time." Her face, he thought, was exactly the way he'd seen it the day she'd come to Libra to demand reasons from him. Then, she had been worried and frightened.

Now, she was still worried and frightened… But this time, she wasn't thinking about her brother.

"Milliardo?" she murmured, her voice stronger now. "Where's Heero? Where is he?!" Panic flooded her much like it had Zechs. She remembered the searing heat, her left leg being scorched… Right now, that leg couldn't feel anything, but she was certain she'd been burned. "Where?"

Her brother's brows were knitted, as though he couldn't discern what to tell her.

"Milliardo!" She screamed it now. "Tell me! Tell me right now what's happened to him."

"Burned side," Zechs blurted without grace. "Badly burned side. When the engine caught fire, one of the rods was headed straight for your head. He dived to your seat and covered you. It was… Relena, it was nearly fatal."

Halfway through the explanation, Relena's eyes had filled with tears. "God, no." Her voice cracked. "No. How can you tell that to me?"

"Relena, he was protecting you. The doctors said we have good reason to believe he'll pull through because of his training, but still…" Zechs's heart broke, watching her cry. She was silent, and she didn't sob. The only thing she demonstrated was a mere outpour of grief and he knew that once it was done, she would put herself back together. That was her strength.

"I've a wheelchair right here," he said, gesturing to the chair by the door. "I'll take you to see him if you want to. He should be awake."

Relena stared at him sorrowfully for a moment, but then she nodded, swiping at the tears on her cheeks. The last time Heero had seen her cry things had turned out okay. They would not turn out that way again.

When she looked at her brother again, her eyes were bright and straightforward.

"Take me to him."

---

Zechs did, and when he rolled Relena into Heero's room, he wheeled her right up to the side of his bed. For a moment, she only stared at his sleeping form and the once-Peacecraft heir held back a sigh. The way Relena looked at Heero was the way he looked at Noin. So completely hers.

When he walked out and shut the door behind him, his shoulders were slumped. He and Relena had never been close, especially since she put up those frozen walls around her heart. He, too, had despised Heero, during the war and after. He'd done something to his sister, and what he didn't know – and didn't want to. Didn't ever want to.

And Relena, anyway, seemed to be pleased with him again. It had just taken six years.

Relena's thoughts were about the six years as well. She wondered if they were wasted. As she held Heero's hand while he lay unconscious, she contemplated the idea of what it would be like today if she had gone after him.

It was strange. She found herself wishing she had chased him, demanded reasons from him. She had those reasons now. But what, she thought, would her life be like in this moment if they had stayed together?

He would still be her bodyguard. She nearly laughed knowing it. The was no doubt that he would have seen to it that he had complete access to her no matter what the time. Une would have gladly given him the authority.

And then she did laugh, softly. "Weird," she said aloud, sounding much like the carefree teenager neither of them had been allowed to be. "What we've been through together. Don't you think so, Heero? Every moment since I saw you on that beach." She smiled. Her thumb stroked the row of knuckles on his hand. "Every moment with you have been so full of life. When we were fifteen, I never thought there would be someone like that. My parents had a rough sketch of my life planned out; I'd get married to some deserving young man, and I'd have his child or more. I'd be a good wife; I'd look good in a newspaper." She shrugged her shoulders. "Dad was often wanting to rearrange the plan. I can't help but wonder what he might have thought of you. I remember the way he acted when we first saw Wing soaring through the atmosphere. He told me it was nothing more than a shooting star, but I knew… Somehow, I knew it was more than that. As soon as you first touched me – remember, that day you tore up the card I'd personally done the calligraphy for? As soon as you did that, I knew I was linked to you somehow. And God knows I didn't want it then." A bit of color tinted her cheeks. "But who was I to deny fate? I certainly believed in it then, and I did follow. Followed you, anyway."

She was so thankful he was sleeping. "And then, always after. Seeing Wing at New Edwards, meeting with you in Antarctica, having you with me at the Sank Kingdom, being with you on Libra… God, Heero, you have no idea how much it affected me when you came to get me. In my bedroom after the election. And finally now. But you're hurt. Jesus." Unbidden, the tears began to return. "And that's my fault. Oh, Heero, I'm sorry. Last night, I was cold to you. How could I ever be so cold? Especially when…" The dam broke, and a sob tore horribly through her throat. She lowered her head. "God, I love you. I couldn't ever know that until this moment, I'm sure of it, but oh…" Her shoulders shook. Damn it.

She felt his hand turn so that they were palm-to-palm. Gasping, she raised her head to stare into his eyes. They were open, so blue, and wonderfully warm. Those eyes showed he knew her well, both her body and her soul. And now he knew her heart.

He smiled. Her breath caught.

"Took long enough, Relena." He didn't say it jokingly. His voice was more matter-of-fact, yet the undertones were low and growling, as though he'd been holding his breath waiting for the words.

"Heero," she murmured, feeling the panic rise. "I—"

"No, you don't." His fingers gripped hers hard. "I do. I love you. I wanted to say those words to you the day I left. They were in my head the last time I looked at you in 196. They've been in my mouth since last night." And now they were in her ears, he thought with satisfaction, and in her heart. Where they were always meant to be.

Relena's heart currently pounded. He loved her. Oh God, he loved her.

"As for your father approving of me, I should think so." His tone was arrogant again. "I saved your life how many times?"

She was tempted to punch him in the shoulder, but instead she laid her other hand against his cheek. "Enough times. Perhaps it would save you the trouble of coming to my rescue if you just stuck around."

He tilted his head from side to side on the pillow, seemingly considering. "It has its useful possibilities." He narrowed his eyes warningly. "I'd need bedroom access."

She bit back a grin. "You'd have it, I swear."

He wanted to kiss her. But the flash of the accident came swift to his mind. The accident that wasn't an accident. "Relena, as much as I want to try to convince you to have rough, wild sex with me here in this bed," he continued before she could exclaim in disapproval, "I need to tell you: I saw him."

She went ramrod straight in the wheelchair she was beginning to hate. "Saw who, Heero?"

"Before the fire covered the windows, when I was over you, I got a glimpse of this guy watching the car, watching us." His brows narrowed over his stormy eyes. "It was Peter Martinez, Relena. It was your Minister."

She blinked once. Then twice. "Heero," she began.

"Relena, it was Martinez. He was the only one you talked to the other night." When she looked away, his voice took on an urgent edge. "Relena! He was watching the car, and he was smiling."

"Heero, Peter's been working with me for eight years. Why would he just—"

"Did it occur to you when you were elected that maybe he'd wanted the position after all?"

Relena froze. She could still remember the night the world had decided she would rule them. The look on Peter's face had been a little twisted. At the time, she had perceived it as sincere sympathy. Was it possible that the correct interpretation would have been severe jealousy?

She stared at Heero, and he nodded.

"Peter probably came back to New Port today," she murmured.

His eyes went hard. "We're getting out of this hospital. Now." Moving quickly, he detached himself from the IV in his arm, wincing only slightly at the pain in his side.

"Heero, the burn. You shouldn't—"

"No time." Standing now, he tossed his head to give her a very direct look. "I made you a promise when we were sixteen. I told you I'd protect you. Looking back, it's not like we could do anything normal; I couldn't take you to prom or out to a movie or dinner or kid things like that." His eyes were sincere on hers. "But I can beat the bad guys for you. And I _will_ protect you. Not just because of the promise; because I love you."

Relena studied his expression with total understanding. And she knew he meant every word spoken. She also knew that she believed him. "I love you, too," she said with a smile. "Let's go."

---

There was nothing better than success. He very simply liked to win. He hadn't done so six years ago, but he had made up for that now.

He hadn't killed the President, Peter reflected, but she was wounded and staying in New Port City's hospital. It wouldn't be hard to hire someone to break through security and finish the job. He'd shaken Preventers with the car bomb. And nothing said Triumph like a nervous task force.

Peter smiled, drank more from the wine glass in his hand. Tapping a finger against the rim, he again pondered over the Gundam pilot with her. Heero Yuy. He chuckled to shake the feeling of his cold blue eyes on his – there was no way, of course, that the Gundam pilot would have been able to really see him.

But eyes like that made any man jittery. They were the eyes of a person who'd never before had something to lose and had recently just been given that something.

Peter understood completely. Love, he reflected as he glanced at the slim woman smiling at him from the door she'd just walked through, was after all an unpredictable thing.

"I was just thinking how ironic it is," he told the woman. "You and I being together."

Jestina grinned and sidled up to where he was perched atop his desk in the New Port Council Building. Stretching her skirt-covered legs, she settled atop his lap, meeting him hips to hips. "Is that so?" she asked with a lifted brow. An amused smirk sat upon her mouth.

"Society would say I'm too old for you." He smiled and ran his fingers through her hair. "_She_ would say I'm too old for you."

"I don't give a damn what society or _she _says," Jestina said, nuzzling his late-forties neck. "I like older men."

"You also like that society. You're going to be an important part of it." Peter let her kiss him and enjoyed the feeling of a young woman's body. "The woman with President Martinez."

Jestina paused, raised her head to meet his eyes. "The wife of President Martinez," she corrected.

Peter only smiled wider. "We'll see. It depends."

"Depends nothing. You're going to marry me," Jestina snarled. "I've spent the last six fucking months being that bitch's undertow. I want my reward."

"Try being her second step for six years," Peter shot back fiercely, "and then we'll talk." He'd have gotten rid of the little whore by now if the sex weren't so exquisite. A female body often overruled a male mind. However, there was a good chance that little phenomenon would be over soon.

"Or how about," a voice filtered smoothly in from the unclosed door, "spending six years _being _the bitch?" Relena's voice was like flawless crystals, hard and cool. Her eyes reflected the power that lay within her – and the anger.

"I should think that would top it," Relena said with a fierce, small smile.

"Oh! Miss Relena!" Panicked, Jestina leapt off Peter's lap. She wasn't ready to handle the idea that things could go downhill. Obviously, it was time to turn on the charm. "I was worried. Minister Martinez was telling me about the accident and I'm so sorry this—"

"Sorry?" Relena interrupted, a merry ring to her voice. "Why should you be sorry? It isn't your fault I was hurt." Slowly, she pulled a revolver from the back waistband of her slacks. "Or is it, Jestina? I didn't take you for a revenge-against-the-boss person. That was my mistake."

"Shit," Jestina breathed. "Shit!" Was she going to lose her life, she wondered, and her future? Damn it, no! That future was filled with what she deserved; the best of everything.

"Hm." Peter sat the glass down with deliberate caution to show he wasn't in the least nervous. As it was, he was pissed off that he hadn't kept a gun himself. "That's a pretty accessory there, Relena. Not the glitter and baubles we're used to seeing on you, but classy nonetheless. But," he asked with a smile, "do you honestly expect me to believe the most famous of pacifists is going to kill another politician and her secretary?"

Relena shrugged her shoulders. "Every person born has a moment in which they have a uniquely strong desire to kill. For me, that moment is _not_ now." She recalled the beginning of the war, when she had infiltrated a party and had fired at Lady Une. "I cannot, however, say the same for him."

Peter went to his feet as Yuy came through the door and took the gun from Relena. Relena was glad; she didn't want to hold the vile thing a moment longer.

"Ah, Representative Yuy," he began. "I should have known." Fuck, the bastard _had _seen him.

"Trick's up, Martinez. I would have found you out earlier if I hadn't been distracted." Heero's eyes flicked to Relena for a split second before settling on Jestina again. "You too? Small world," he said tersely.

"Seems like," Jestina replied venomously. "Jesus, I'll bet you were a goddamned agent that day."

Heero recalled the day he had been reunited with Relena and nearly smiled. "Don't flatter yourself."

"Indeed," Relena added. "You'll both be handed over to Preventers with charges of treason."

Screw that, Peter decided instantly. There was still power to be had in this world. Peace didn't last. It never lasted. Making a bold move, he shoved Jestina out in front of him and made a dash.

Heero Yuy was not so easily distracted. With no hesitation, he pulled the trigger and hit Martinez's shoulder.

He squealed as he went down, clutching his wound and spitting. "Fuck!"

"I'm sure you did enough of that with the secretary here," Heero told him in his old monotone.

Preventers suddenly swarmed the place, and Relena could barely keep up. Wufei was on Peter, grabbing his arms and pinning them behind his back, catching Relena's eye and giving an extra tug.

Trowa was on Jestina, being just as rough (if not more so) as Wufei. Jestina herself had burst into tears.

"This isn't fair! I did what I was supposed to!" she wailed, flailing her arms and wishing she was dead. "I was going to marry him!"

Trowa handed her over to another officer but didn't allow her to be moved away. "Did you love him?" he asked without emotion.

"Love him." She chuckled bitterly and glared at Peter, now unconscious, as he was carried out. "That old man isn't capable of giving love, and he'd damn lost his chance at getting it. Bastards like him only want themselves in the end." But Jestina's eyes were a bit too bright for her emotion to be just rage. "Why bother to love someone who couldn't ever love you?" she asked rhetorically, one tear slipping down.

Trowa didn't watch as she was dragged away. Instead, his gaze met Relena's. His smile was soft. "I wonder," he murmured.

"Trowa," she began, recalling how kind he'd been to her.

"You did a good job, Yuy," Trowa cut in, giving Heero a nod of respect. "You did the job better than anyone else could. You protected her." He waited, and his shoulders sagged the slightest fraction. "Guess you loved her, too."

Heero returned the respect with a similar nod. "I can do more than guess, Trowa."

His green eyes settled on her light blue ones for another moment before going back to Heero's. "You should talk to Une," he advised, turning. "She's interested in hiring for permanent detail." As he walked out of the now-empty office, his voice came back to them. "I'd accept it if I were you."

Heero looked down at Relena's wide-eyed face, and took it in his hands.

"I have every intention to," he promised, and covered her lips with his own.

---

She threw down the pen in a show of success. It had taken two weeks and thirty-two hours, but all the damage caused by Peter and Jestina's mundane power seeking had received commissions for repairs.

Relena had felt rather bad signing those documents before the ones for the Colonies. She had made a formal statement about it, assuring the Colonists that those repairs would come directly after. And starting tomorrow, that promise would be fulfilled.

She automatically reached for her telecom to call her secretary before she remembered one hadn't been sent to her yet. Hired help was so hard to find these days. Everybody wanted to be engineers.

Heero walked in just as she was standing up. He smiled when he met her eyes.

"You look distressed," he commented idly.

She blew out a breath. "I'm lacking a mail-runner. I've always taken them for granted. Now I feel lost without one." She half-pouted, and Heero grinned.

"We'll drop it in the box on our way out," he told her and grabbed her purse so he could lead her out of the office before she could realize his intent.

"Out? What? No, I can't go out, I have to call Quatre about the—"

"Call him at home, but don't say a word about the repairs. He just wrapped that mess up today, and it's the last thing he wants on his mind." Heero didn't see her expression change at the word "home." For the past four days, he'd been covering checks and paperwork of his own with Une. He'd finalized his position as her twenty-four/seven bodyguard today. "In fact, don't call him. Wait until tomorrow. You owe me dinner, remember?"

"Do we have reservations?" she inquired lightly, snatching her purse from him as they walked to the elevator; she wanted to regain some sort of control.

"Don't need them. Let's cook in tonight. I'm quite interested to know if you can."

She poked her nose in the air. "I make exquisite grilled cheese, thank you."

"Good to know, because I only make a rough pasta." He grinned down at her.

She grinned back. "In some instances, it's nice to have a butler to learn from."

"Pagan's off for the night. He's visiting a colleague on the other side of town."

"What?!" she exclaimed. "Really? He could have said something."

"I told him to take the time. You forgot the other thing you owe me." The elevator doors closed and Heero trapped her against the reflective wall. "We said we'd be naked." His teeth scraped the edge of her jaw.

"Naked? Oh, but… Oh…" Her fingers itched to touch him, but she knew there was a camera in this lift. "That's hardly decent."

"Decency?" Lifting his head, he gave her an amused look. "Decency bores me."

Relena could already picture them; whether they decided to roll around or dance in the lovemaking, she'd enjoy every minute of it.

She shook her head. "Heero, you're going to turn my life into a massive affair."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Affairs are dangerous. I'm a politician. My career mustn't be ruined by some scandal! We've seen enough of that in the past."

She felt him slip his hand into hers, and between their palms was something square and hard and smooth. Looking down, she saw the small velvet box – her throat closed up.

"If that's so," Heero said, his eyes watching her intently, "I'd do better to make it non-scandalous."

"Heero," she squeaked.

He took the box from her suddenly quaking fingers and opened it. The simple, elegant diamond glimmered like the shooting star she'd first mistaken him for. Taking the ring from its case, he took her left had and pushed it onto her middle finger.

"Understand me now," Heero said lowly. "I want to spend every day with you for as long as I get to keep living. I want you to be the one that makes me _want _to keep living."

She wouldn't cry, she willed herself. She wouldn't cry, she wouldn't cry.

The tear slipped past her defenses and fell onto her shirt collar.

Dammit, she _would_ cry.

"Relena, I love you. I told you that already, and I'll tell you again right now. I can't promise to tell you every day, but I promise to mean it every moment." Her whole hand was embodied by his grip now, and Relena could do no more than stare at him.

"You want me to marry you," she muttered disbelievingly. "You want me to be your wife."

"I want those things," he affirmed with a small nod of his head. "But more than anything, I just want you."

Relena let out a small sigh and shook her head. Pressing against his body, she took his lips with a need she'd before thought she would never have for anyone.

"You've always had me," she promised him. "Always, even if neither of us knew it."

He held her, relishing the fact that she was his. He'd once been called the heart of outer space.

But, Heero knew as they stepped off the elevator as two young people now engaged, he'd always been Heero Yuy, the heart of Relena Darlian.

And it would stay that way.

----------------------------------------------

Thanks for reading everyone. There's also an epilogue after this that I posted as well, so be sure to read that! Review please!


	11. Endgame

Hey, guys! Final chapter! cheers I just wanna say THANK YOU to everybody who read this fic and told me they liked it. It means so much that I could successfully entertain you guys. There's always some time for 1xR, huh? Thanks again and enjoy the final end. Hopefully I can hear (read?) from you guys again in some of my other fics, yeah?

Ice Hot Epilogue

'Endgame'

By Gundam Girl

"Well… That's a grand story if I ever heard one," Duo commented idly, accepting the beer Heero gave him. Thank God Lent was over. Those chocolate bunnies from Easter had been some freaking good stuff. And the celebratory martini he'd had that evening had been heaven on earth. "So it was Peter Martinez? And Relena's secretary? That musta sucked." He was currently in Heero's apartment helping to get out all of his buddy's furniture and other things Heero didn't want so he could sell it on L2.

"She wasn't pleased," Heero replied, popping the top off his own beer. "It was a good way she handled it however. Sexy, too."

Duo grinned at him. "I'll bet it was. So seriously, man. What's the deal? With you and Relena. Do I hear church bells?"

"She's still debating over satin and silk."

"Oh, come on, Heero. You could at least tell me… Hell WHAT?!" Duo nearly fell out of Heero's armchair and had to clutch the armrest for balance. "You asked her to _marry you _and you didn't say anything?!" His lower lip protruded in a bad pout. "Ouch. Ouch, Heero!"

"The topic just came up now," Heero said. "I'm not the best of conversation starters."

"Wait, so you mean _she_ popped the question?!"

"Oh. No, I did that just fine."

"Well, I guess so if she said yes… Jeez!" Duo scratched his head. "So you…aren't gonna be single. Freaky as hell, man. But we were all kinda expecting it when she first came up here. Anyway, what's up with Trowa? Heard he went to L4 to visit Quatre. I knew he had something going on for Relena, he totally—" He paused when his cell phone rang.

"Yo? Hey, Q-man!" the braided one exclaimed. "Check it, we were just talkin' about ya. Sec, I'll hook you up to Heero's vid-phone here." He quickly plugged the cell into the wall-mounted device, and Quatre's blond head appeared on the screen. "How's it hanging?" Duo asked.

"We're all fine here. Trowa stopped by, as you probably know. He felt he needed a break from Earth, so Une sent him on vacation for a while."

"How's he doing?" asked Heero. Quatre shrugged.

"Well, he was honestly quite a bit hurt at losing to you, Heero. Although, granted, he didn't really try that hard. Would you believe he was shy? He has gone on a few dates here, though."

"Cool," Duo supplied. "What happened to that smart redhead you took to Trieste's fun little function?" Heero nearly rolled his eyes, remembering it, as Quatre answered.

"Actually, that's who Trowa's been seeing." He laughed at the two brown-haired men's faces. "Easy, guys. It doesn't bother me at all. Rosanna's a good friend now. Miss Relena should get her mobile suit blueprints later on this week."

"Ooh, have her fax me some!" Duo shouted.

"I'll mention it," Quatre promised. "Heero, have you and Relena set a date yet?"

"You tell blondie and not me!" started Duo, and Heero shrugged.

"Relena did. I thought she told Hilde, too."

"And Hil didn't tell me? Aw, fuck." Duo drained his beer with a rather loud bout of gulping. "You kids suck. Never tell me a damn thing. Jesus, Yuy." Standing up, he grinned. "At least let me know when."

"November. She wants a fall wedding." Heero leaned against the nearest wall. "I wasn't about to disagree."

Quatre chuckled. "Just keep us informed."

"Yeah, like when she gets pregnant! Damn, if someone leaves me out of _that_ circle, people will die on my watch."

Heero laughed shortly. "We haven't gotten there yet."

"Although there's no real reason _why_…" Duo yawned. "Anyway, thanks for callin,' Quat. Gotta get home to Hilde. Maybe _we'll_ make some babies."

"Are you marrying her?" Quatre asked incredulously.

"Sure, why not? And because I'm a good friend, I'll call when she says yes. Later."

"Bye, Duo." Quatre nodded. "Bye, Heero."

"Regards to Trowa," Heero replied.

Duo ejected his cell phone and smiled at Heero. "I really do gotta go, buddy. I'll get this chair; you grab the fridge and I'll hit the space."

"You really don't mind selling this for me, do you?"

"Nah. Hopefully it'll attract a few more customers." He winked as he hefted the armchair. "I'll send your cash to your palace. Ooh, la, la."

Wufei was outside on the sidewalk with Relena beside Duo's car, which would be shipped to L2 on a shuttle ahead of Duo. Wufei had come with them as both extra guard for Relena and as extra muscle for appliance-towing. "Is this crap going to make any actual money, Maxwell?"

"A few hundred," Duo said, "or I'll cut my hair."

Wufei smirked wickedly. "If that's the case, I hope it doesn't sell at all."

"Grow up, boys," Relena admonished with a laugh. "If Duo cut his hair, Hilde would spear him."

"Or castrate him," Heero offered.

Duo's paled. "Ah, well – I should be going. Got a ride, Wufei?"

"I'm acting driver today," Wufei said with a half-grumble. "Relena and I are somewhat friends, I suppose. Friends only drive for you once."

"Don't gag at the lovebirds," Duo advised. "In fact, you might as well put up the screen thing and let them make out in privacy."

The glare that had made Heero Yuy famous among the Gundam pilots came out and hit Duo directly. "You can do the same."

"Yeah, yeah. Hey, congrats, Relena!" Duo called. "You finally snagged him!"

On the way to the shuttleport, Heero let his arm fall around her shoulders. "Who snagged who?"

"Snagged you first," Relena laughed.

"Uh-huh." He directed her mouth toward his and nipped her top lip. "Should we put Wufei on the spot?"

Relena grazed her teeth along his cheek to Heero's earlobe. "I rather like the idea."

In response, Heero pushed her down on the seat. "How long do we have before we get to the port, Wufei?"

"Ten minutes," Wufei grunted.

"That's enough time." He laughed a little when Relena pushed him off of her.

"Behave, 01."

"Did you get a new secretary yet?" he asked, keeping his hands to himself as they approached the port.

"No, but India is supposed to be sending me one in a week. I think it's a man." She sighed exaggeratedly. "Those beautiful accents."

"That you can't understand on the phone," Wufei supplied from the front.

"Hm, true. Heero, maybe you should be my secretary," Relena suggested. "I'll bet you can take notes really well."

She couldn't have any idea how much it pleased him that she was back to her warm, joking self. That ice-encased Relena Darlian (soon to be Relena Darlian-Yuy) had gnashed him to pieces. "That depends," he told her, sliding out of the limo and extending his hand. She didn't need any help getting out, he just wanted to hold her fingers in his, to feel that connection he'd been deprived of for most of his life. "Do I have to work hard?"

"Very hard. People always underestimate secretaries, but many could never get along without them. Like me. But think of it this way." She stopped him and locked her fingers together behind his neck. Leaning up, she whispered something in his ear that both stunned and excited him at the same time.

Then she slipped away toward the shuttleport entrance to go get their tickets.

"What was that about?" asked Wufei, crossing his arms after handing the limo's key to a valet.

Heero shrugged, shaking his head, and smiling softly as they followed.

"Apparently, desks get fairly comfortable if you lay on them the right way."

Thanks to EVERYBODY. You were all such a wonderful audience, I had such a pleasure presenting this to you. Please let me know how you think I did with the ending!

Love,

GG


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